BENGALURU: If you walk into a police station to file a complaint, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you end up spending at least half a day. The reason: the Police IT software on which complaints and First Information Reports (FIR) are registered is facing glitches as the police department servers are overloaded.
Karnataka was the first state to introduce Police IT, an intranet platform, which is used by the police department for various purposes including registering complaints and generating FIRs.
According to a senior police official, the problem of delays in filing complaints has been on the rise since the two months. “On getting preliminary information, we update it in the prescribed format using the intranet platform.
But due to problems in the central servers, it takes about two hours to register a case. Many times, we would have been half way through when the server hangs and we have to start afresh. On an average, we can register four to five complaints in a day,” he pointed out.
A person, who had visited Basavanagudi police station recently to file a complaint, said, “I set out in the morning thinking that I will file a complaint and then head to work. But I was forced to sit there for two hours as the cops were not able to upload the complaint details on their software. I cannot blame them. They made me realise that it was because of technical issues.”
The State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB), which manages the software, admitted that there are delays due to the heavy load on the central servers.
Until last year, the police department had servers locally at the zonal level. Last year, the department switched to central servers and strict orders were issued to use the Police IT software for registering complaints. But there was no upgradation -- both software and hardware -- leading to problems.
Additional Director General of Police (SCRB) Ravindranath P said, “Last year, we made it mandatory for every police station to use the Police IT software to register cases. I agree there are server problems due to user load, at times. However, we have addressed these issues in the crime module and we are now setting right the traffic module.
“We are also in the process of upgrading the software to facilitate better sharing of information. The network speed also has been increased from 512kpbs to 2mbps. All the issue will be resolved soon and work has already begun,” he added.
Wide Network
Police IT is a networked programme that connects more than 1,000 police stations, 235 zonal offices, 13 sub-regional offices, 30 district police headquarters, five commissioner’s offices, six range offices, 11 KSRP battalions, two IRV battalions, six police training centres, CID, coastal security unit, the Forensic Science Laboratory in Madiwala and its regional centre, and the state police headquarters.
What’s Police IT software?
It is a comprehensive system that aims to automate police information and features 12 modules. The core functions have three dedicated modules -- crime, law and order, and traffic
Besides helping administration, it also collates data about criminals. Any policeman in the state can access the programme from a computer. The police should also upload case details, chargesheet and other relevant details
The section dedicated to crime gives detailed information and assists in the investigation. Monitoring can be handled efficiently in the Law and Order module. Records related to foreign nationals, fundamentalist organisations and VIP movements are compiled here
The administration module deals with finance, administration and stores. The arms, transport, and training sections provide ancillary support information. Technical modules include wireless and forensics