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 -

1. person/address verification of employees, tenants and servants.
2. permission for hosting public events.
3. reporting lost and found articles and vehicle theft

• 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