A total of 712 police stations across 36 districts of Punjab have been digitised by the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), media sources have reported.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz SharIf and IG Punjab inaugurated the new digital system in Central Police Office Lahore.
Analog system of record keeping was not considered safe e.g in the condition of a fire breakout, valuable data could be lost. In addition, the process was time-consuming and prone to error in addition to being prone to corruption as the record was accessible by anyone.
The new digitised system of Criminal Record keeping promises to bring the bring the following reforms for the police stations:
- A computerised Complaint Management System
- Reception Rooms handled by IT literate receptionists
- Establishment of a Police Record Management System which will enhance security and accessibility of the data in case of a problem.
- A Criminal Record Management System which will keep records of the criminals’ biometrics, physical appearance and a record of previous crimes. A “rap sheet” in other words. This system is connected with Tenant Registration System and Hotel Eye which will allow guests and hotel customers to be identified if they have a criminal record.
- An Operational Media Centre which helps police monitor the law and order situation and to take action once a situation arises.
- The IGP Monitoring Cell to watch over IT related activities of the Punjab Police.
- CCTV Camera monitoring of 5 cities under the Punjab Safe Cities Authority project
- IGP Complaint Center 8787
Efforts of PITB and the Punjab Police have been lauded by the government and have been considered a step forward in improving the image associated with the policing department. Other provinces have also been encouraged to follow Punjab Police’s efforts for digitisation and technological improvements.
