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Behold! The Bihar e-police

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Policing in Bihar is considered to be a concept which is more than 300 years
old and there have been some historical evidences and references of policing
practices during the Magadh Era. Post-independence, Bihar Police has introduced
innovative policing and welfare practices such as creation of a Police Welfare
Fund, Police Hospitals and Police Information Room (PIR) in 1952. However, the
Bihar Police in the recent past has also felt the need of a highly secured and
an effective technology in their departments to deal with crime. The recent
initiative is e-complaint which allows citizens to file complaints over the web
rather than physically going to a police station and lodging a complaint.

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With a click of a button, either from home or office, the policemen will see
and verify the details of the complainant. An official of the concerned police
station would approach the complainant within twenty four hours of lodging the
complaint. A grievance redressal mechanism would be set up at Kotwali police
station to monitor the complaints.

Criminal Activities in Bihar (2001 - March 2010)

Crime

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Cognizable

95,942

1,01,055

98,298

1,15,216

10,4,778

1,10,716

1,18,176

1,30,693

1,33,525

31,196

Murder

3,619

3,634

3,652

3,861

3,423

3,225

2,963

3,029

3,152

690

Dacoity

1,293

1,259

1,203

1,297

1,191

967

646

640

654

168

Robbery

2,175

2,236

2,425

2,909

2,379

2,138

1,729

1,536

1,619

386

Burglary

3,036

3,172

2,925

3,191

3,166

3,529

3,254

3,343

3,566

746

Theft

9,489

9,792

10,313

11,518

11,809

13,092

12,306

14,143

15,221

4,196

Riots

8,520

8,775

8,189

9,199

7,704

8,541

7,996

8,207

8,554

2,193

Kidnapping

1,689

1,948

1,956

2,566

2,226

2,301

2,092

2,735

3,142

807

Kidnapping for Ransom

385

396

335

411

251

194

89

66

80

19

Rape

746

875

804

1,063

973

1,083

1,122

1,041

929

176

Road Dacoity

257

252

247

287

224

211

151

146

201

46

Road Robbery

1,296

1,323

1,430

1,875

1,310

1,251

1,109

897

962

254

Bank Dacoity

22

28

14

30

26

15

19

16

7

5

Bank Robbery

18

15

15

27

8

5

9

7

2

0

Note: Crime data for 2010 being shown here is for the months
of Jan-March2010 only.
Use of ICT tools
in Bihar Police departments is expected to significantly reduced the crime
rate in the state Hope and IT can be the best combo in Bihar
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We have created an e-dossier of all suspected and
convicted habitual criminals of Patna Amit Jain, SSP, Patna Police

What was the basic motive for launching e-complaint initiative in Patna?
Till date, what has been the response by citizens to the new initiative?

The basic motive for launching e-complaint cell of Patna Police is to
bring police closer to the people. Peoples grievances are received through
email and sent to the concerned SHOs/SDPOs. The SHO is supposed to respond
as early as possible and no later than twenty four hrs. This initiative
particularly helps the elderly people and women, who find it difficult to
visit the police station or senior officers. The initial response is very
encouraging and on an average five-ten complaints are received. Attempt is
being made to make wide publicity of the email ID so that more people are
benefited under the initiative.

What are your views on using ICT and technologies effectively in
police departments? Do you see benefits of using ICT in police departments?

The ICT is the need of the day and no large organization can sustain and
deliver without the aid of ICT. Several initiatives have been taken in this
regard for information sharing. CCTNS is one such initiative where a
database of every PS will be created, and will be shared through networking.
This is an MHA driven project. At the local level, initiatives have been
taken to create one e-dossier of all the suspected and convicted habitual
criminals of Patna.

Would you take this initiative forward in all the police stations in
Bihar. Please give us some information on the grievance redressal mechanism
you would follow?

Presently, the e-complaint cell receives complaint from Patna only as
this is an initiative of Patna Police.

Apart from the e-complaint initiative, what are your strategies for
coming up with an anti cyber crime cell and special cell?

A Cyber Crime Investigation Unit has been started in the Kotwali police
station of Patna Police. Presently, the unit has been entrusted the job of
email tracking and dealing with the harassment caused due to fake profiles
on the social networking sites, and also threatening and offensive SMSs and
emails. Later on, the unit will be equipped with advanced equipments and
software to be used for the seizure of electronic evidence. A case under 66
IT Act has also been registered and is being investigated by this unit. A
special cell against organized crime is also functional in Patna police. The
cell is equipped with advance systems for technical intelligence.

PC Suraj

surajp@cybermedia.co.in