‘Technology for police forces should be in local languages’

New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) There is need to give more emphasis to “local languages” in the modernization process of the police force as most police personnel are not fluent in English, a senior Uttar Pradesh Police officer said here on Tuesday.

“In China at every cyber cafe kiosk we find a long queue waiting to use the internet, which is due to the number of services available in their language,” Ranjan Dwivedi, Additional Director General of Police and Commandant General Home Guards of UP Police, said at an event here.

“The software provided to Indian security forces is mainly in English, in which most of our men are not fluent, which bars them from using it properly,” he remarked at a panel discussion on Smart Policing and Public Safety here.

He stressed that technology providers "need to emphasize more on the local language as it will help the forces absorb it quickly".

He even opined that “whatever modernization is happening in the police now, is happening very late and very less research is involved in it".

He said that without proper research and transparency the forces cannot do "smart policing".

Echoing a similar opinion, ADGP Madhya Pradesh Police, Purushottam Sharma said that the police needs to fill the communication gap among them by utilizing modern techniques as criminals have gone high-tech and can change their locations frequently after committing a crime.

Stressing on the fingerprint mechanism, Sharma said that till date only 18 states follow Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which needs to be interconnected with all the state police, so that the data of the criminals is shared instantly among them to nab them.

He also said that data sharing had helped in solving a number of motor vehicle theft cases in Bhopal.

Emphasizing on how the right implementation of technology has helped Delhi Police, Additional Commissioner (Operations), O.P. Mishra said that "technology and applications not only make the task of the police easier but also for the people".

Citing examples of various mobile phone applications which Delhi Police launched since last year, Mishra said: "We launched three applications since last year, one for loss of documents, Himmat App for women safety and e-registration for motor vehicle theft. And all the applications have not only helped the police but also the users to register their complaints."

Mishra opined that technology could also create a "gap" between the force and the public, which the force has to deal with properly.

Former DGP of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Arvind Ranjan said that to maintain the integrity of police, modernization of the force is very important.

Arvind said: "It was only after 2000 that the budget to modernize the police was increased, which earlier used to be very limited, and it helped us to bring in more advanced technology for effective policing."

He added that technology providers also need to train the forces to operate and maintain the technology in Indian conditions.