Digital Police Portal

Why in news?

Minister of Home Affairs has recently launched Digital Police Portal under the CCTNS project.

What is CCTNS?

The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems is an Indian government project for web based policing.
It was conceived as a response to the Mumbai attacks of 2008 and approved in 2009.
It aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance.
The system is already in operation in many states but with a limited coverage.

What are the features of the Portal?

The portal is part of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) that aims to integrate the CCTNS project with a larger database.
It aims at integrating various organs of the criminal justice system with the CCTNS database.
This include the police, courts, prisons, forensic laboratories, juvenile homes, etc.
It facilitates a pan-India search of crime and criminal records of individuals through a national database.
It offers 11 kinds of search and 44 types of reports.
Also, it will provide for the citizens to register FIRs online and also to register complaints against erring police officials.
It gives them access to seven public delivery services which include among many -

The portal has a scope of extending its domain further to the databases like vehicle registrations as well.

What is the way forward?

Criminal investigations and decisions can now become more informed.
However the success of this potential game-changer project will depend on data accuracy and its judicious utilisation.
Government has to ensure this while going ahead with the revolutionary initiative for the justice system.

Source: Financial Express