Details such as fingerprints, iris recognition, photographs, and other personal records like DNA reports of the people taken into police custody will be stored
Nabbing criminals will be easier and faster in the years to come as the state home department has decided to digitize details such as fingerprints, iris recognition, photographs, and other personal records like DNA reports of the people taken into police custody. The database could be accessed in real time from any police station across the state.
ADVERTISEMENT
The real time digital matching of evidence collected and the database available will definitely help us in detecting crimes faster, says a police officer. Representation pic/Getty Images
According to home department officials, Maharashtra will be the first state to digitize such data. They said this will help in tracking criminals by matching the data available with evidence collected from crime scenes. The plan is aimed at enhancing the state’s forensic capabilities and will be executed as a collaborative effort between the investigators, forensic science experts and software specialists.
A similar method is used internationally, said a senior home department officer, adding that currently fingerprints are collected at the primary stage of investigations, but iris recognition would be the next big step.“Fingerprints are also collected from the crime scene and then manually matched with suspects’ data.
It is time consuming and delays investigations. By the time we get such details, we may not be able to work on leads without any solid proof. Digital matching will save us a lot of time,” he said. The plan, if executed efficiently, will also increase the state’s conviction rate (now about 35%) further, felt officials.
Along with biometric details, the digitized data will also record crimes committed by a person, his/her expertise (used in committing crimes), jail sentences awarded, prison time served, and personal information.“Currently, it’s very time consuming. But in future, the real-time digital matching of evidence collected and the database available will definitely help us in detecting crimes much faster.
This will also help us in making the court cases stronger,” a senior police officer said. A presentation in this regard was recently given to CM Devendra Fadnavis who also heads the Home department and he has approved the plan. In fact, the State Crime Record Bureau has also digitized old crime records as part of the countrywide Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS) taken up by the UPA government. This database will prove an added advantage for the crime busters.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
