NEW DELHI:While the ageing Delhi Police personnel are ready to shoot criminals without blinking, they are scared to death when it comes to clicking the mouse. Most of them above 50-years, attending cyber course, are finding it difficult to grasp knowledge of computers Around 15 per cent of 77,894 police personnel fall in this age category.
As modernisation of forces is in process, these police personnel are required to work on computers—from registering FIRs to nabbing criminal with handheld personal digital assistant devices—and for that regular cyber and computer courses, and training programme has been initiated by the IT section of Delhi Police.
With many cops coming from rural backgrounds, they are used to manual filing of reports and have very little exposure to technology. “Leave aside computer applications, they find to difficult even to operate smart phones,” said a senior police officer. The official added that in last three years, many mobile and computer-based applications like Hamari Police Hamare Mohalle , e-beat book, DP@click, Himmat and others where technology is the interface between people and police, has been developed. To make it successful, the lower rank officials are being trained. Failing to cope up with these new technologies, the aging policemen is finding it difficult to carry out their works and when they are taught, they are unable to grasp it.
Commissioner of Police, Alok Kumar Verma stated these personnel are the system's backbone and can’t be left behind. He said, “They (trainers) should make assessment before the classes and bifurcate the groups into two sessions -- one that is conversant with cybercrime and other that is lesser conversant; the lesser conversant should be given extra time.”