INFORMATION - THE LIFELINE OF ANY POLICE ORGANIZATION

The district police is the most vital unit in the police organization. Most of the police operations, be it in the field of crime prevention and detection, law & order or any of the other police tasks, are in effect to be launched, guided, supervised and monitored largely at this level. The upkeep of the force, the morale and motivation of the men, their training and performance are all the functions of the level of efficiency of this unit. Neither the efficient management of the police operations nor the internal administration of the force is possible without the availability of systematic and up-to-date information. Speed also plays a crucial role in this regard.

Inordinate growth in the magnitude as well as complexities of police work over the years has now led to enormous increase in the volume of data and information to be handled by the police. The speed and range of activity of the present day criminals, anti-social and anti-national elements on one hand and the growing expectations of the people from the police for speedy and effective action on the other needs availability of accurate and quick information, which is extremely important. A dire need has thus arisen for faster access to information for the police to cope with the rising challenges of law & order and security in today's environment.

Computerization, provides a significant analysis of the data can be made for which information can be used for prevention of crime and also for detection. Information and communication technologies are important tools of the Government of Andhra Pradesh to become SMART (Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent). With this inspiration, the police department is adopting leading edge technologies in various application areas.

In so far as computerization in the police department is concerned, the department has taken a lead in computerization of automatic fingerprint identification system, which has widely enhanced the quality and speed of investigation. 'FACTS' An automatic fingerprint identification system called Fingerprint Analysis and Criminal Tracing System (FACTS), has been installed for the computerisation of the Finger Print Bureau operations of the entire state.

FACTS

An automatic Fingerprint Identification system called Fingerprint Analysis and Criminal Tracing System (FACTS), has been installed for the computerisation of the Finger Print Bureau operations of the entire state. FACTS provides the functionality for creating and maintaining a database of 10 digit fingerprint slips of the Fingerprint Bureau. The daily 10 digit FP slips (of arrested persons) and the latent prints obtained from the scene of crime can be compared/searched on the database.

Software for the Recruitment and Inventory of Clothing

This has been developed in-house, details of which are:

Inventory & Clothing

• This system starts with the record of issues such as uniform, shoe, etc, made to individual police person attached to the unit. By consolidating this information, the system generates the annual indent for clothing and other materials, eliminating inaccuracies occurring in the present method of manual indenting.

• The system helps in floating tenders, consolidating the quotations received and assisting the tender committee in taking appropriate decisions in the matter of purchasing the materials from the different sources. After receipt of material and distribution to the units, the system maintains an inventory account. It helps to generate cost detail incurred by individual unit for the item supplied, thus bringing in cost awareness among the officers.

Recruitment

• The complete process of Recruitment, right from the stage of accessing the overall vacancies and category-wise vacancies, based on relevant government orders, till the selection process was completed i.e. up to the issue of appointment orders to the selected candidates was systematized and processed with the help of computer.
• The application software, developed in the PCS, successfully completed the recruitment of 4233 police constables in the year 2000.
• The software developed fulfills the provisions of the Government Orders with respect to communal roster and other reservations.
• Automation is resorted to for the issue of hall tickets, computing the marks obtained by the candidates in different subjects, placing the merited candidates according to rank and communal roster culminating in the issue of appointment order. Inventory of clothing and web equipment (distribution and indenting).

eCOPS
The Andhra Pradesh Police Department has proposed to take up a comprehensive project of computerization of the department with a view to building an improved information infrastructure for enhancing the operational efficiencies at all levels in the department viz, police stations, circles, sub-divisions, districts, ranges, battalions, commission rates and the Director-General of Police Office.

The proposed Information System, eCOPS is intended to cover all the major activities of the department viz, crime registration, law & order, extremist activity, intelligence wing, personal management, financial accounting, budget, traffic control, recruitment & training, vehicle management, workshop management, logistics & inventory control and construction activity. The network connectivity for integration of these units will be provided by utilizing leased lines and Andhra Pradesh State Wide Area Network (APSWAN) and Reliance network. eCOPS will also have interface with other important departments like transport, judiciary, prisons, hospitals, FSL, etc.