pcs summary report

Organisation Summary Report

Andhra Pradesh Police Computer Services

T Krishna Prasad I.P.S.IGP, Director Police Communications HAC Police Computer Services & Standardisation

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From the Desk of DGP

I am immensely pleased to note that the AP Police Computer Services is bringing out an

Organization Summary Report, detailing its remarkable achievements in the last ten years, and

the roadmap ahead.

I am sure many will find the achievements made by the A.P Police in e-governance as a

benchmark for similar projects elsewhere. The Institution of systematization and

computerization, as a dedicated wing in the A.P Police Computer Services, has proven to be

extremely effective. The wing has managed to integrate a computer-based mode of functioning in

to the vast pool of the State Police, so systematically, that in its tenth year, all police locations are

computerized and interconnected.

The year 2009 is a milestone year not only for the PCS but also for Indian Police as well, as the

Electronic Computerization of Police Services (eCOPS) went live all over the state on the

1st January of this year. From 1 January 2009 onwards, each and every Police Station in A.P,

including the remotest, has started issuing FIR, online. The achievement of this substantial task,

preparation of such a document, to take stock of the work completed so far, and setting new targets

have been a commendable task.

On behalf of the State Police, I take this opportunity to congratulate IGP, PCS, District IT core

teams, Developers, Technical team, Consultants and all the police personnel, who have

participated in this mission of heralding the A.P Police force into the world of Information and

Communication Technology.

st

(S.S.P Yadav)

Note from the Inspector General

We, at the Police Computer Services Wing of theAP Police, are delighted to present this summary

of our performance to the public. This document is both the chronicle of a bold move carried out

over the past decade as well as an assessment of where it has reached till now and how far its

objectives have been met. We hope that this milestone of sorts will also be a useful pointer to some

of the paths we have to travel in the future.

For the PCS, the past ten years have been a time of planning new initiatives, of grappling with

technical feasibilities, of implementing steps to effectively usher the police force into a

technology-intensive era and of incessantly following up these developments seeking successful

usage. We always bore in mind that most ICT technical initiatives in the world are not fully

successful due to insufficient focus on project planning, low user involvement, and inconsistent

project follow-up and implementation. An in depth understanding of all the stake holders, whose

utility alone can testify for success, is mandatory for any computerizing venture. The PCS team

worked on identifying all such categories and spent quality time pushing the agenda of

computerization across its 2500 locations through capacity building and focused project

management. Thus, this is a happy success story primarily of staying with each particle of a

commitment till its completion.

We are proud to share with the people of Andhra Pradesh the fact that we are the only state in the

country where every police station is interconnected across the department and information can

be put in, retrieved, analyzed and updated in real time from all the police locations, statewide.

Online delivery of otherwise time consuming services has been a boon for the police and for the

public alike.

This occasion of happiness is also an opportunity for us to recall, with due humility, that all our

achievements over the past decade would not have been possible without great support from the

government, superior officials, the companies that helped us through their corporate social

responsibility wings, the dedicated teams of managers, programmers, trainers and officials who

worked with us at various junctures.

The PCS team joins me in thanking each of you who have helped us in getting where we are now.

With your support and good wishes, our dedicated team hopes to continue working on the mission

of a smoother, nicer and more effective policing experience for the people in the years to come.

Happy reading!

I. P. S.T. Krishna Prasad

Introduction 09

Policing in the Age of ICT 11

The Setting up of PCS 12

Vision, Mission and Core Values 13

Benefits of ICT in Policing 14

The Challenges of Computerization 16

How does the PCS Work? 18

Responsibilities of the PCS 19

ABrief History of the Evolution of PCS 20

Infrastructure 23

Communication Framework 24

Collaborations 25

Application Categories & KeyApplications 26

Training 29

Follow Up 30

Where is the PCS now? 31

Enterprise eCOPS: The RoadAhead 34

Route Map 35

Conclusion 39

Appendix 1 : Organizational Structure 40

Appendix 2 : Success Stories 41

Appendix 3 : eLXNeCOPS 44

Appendix 4 : Data Centre Evolution 45

Contents

This document is a record of the history, services and achievements of the Police

Computer Services (PCS), a wing of the Andhra Pradesh Police dedicated to

bring about the extensive and effective use of Information and Communication

Technology (ICT) in the Department.

We live in an age that understands ICT as a basic component of any organization,

as it has revolutionized the ways of information flow for better service delivery.

ICT can make information accessible at any time and in any place, help

consolidate and analyse it for decision support, and enable collaborative action

across different locations on a real time basis that increases the efficiency and

effectiveness of any organization. This is extremely significant for a

governmental agency like the police force with many citizen-facing,

governmental and procedural responsibilities assigned to it. It is this vision that

prompted the police authorities to establish a strong information technology

division within the force. They foresaw that this move to systemize processes

would equip the force to act faster and better, by enhancing overall productivity.

Now, after ten years of composed work, we see the fruits of computerization: just

as much as the increase in efficiency enabled the Police to be a more people-

friendly and responsive force, the systematization of processes and information

has made the ordinary citizen's dealing with the police a better experience.

Through a holistic approach that was minutely attentive of each component in

computerizing the department, from the study of the processes to detailed

planning and implementation of capacity building, the PCS has managed to

conceptualize and implement ICT initiatives in the Police Department in order to

to provide better services for the police personnel and the public.

By documenting the history and approach of the PCS in a comprehensive manner,

we hope to showcase how this transformative mission constantly evolves

towards successful ICT implementations. This document also chronicles the

Introduction

/48Andhra Pradesh Police Computer Services

lessons of how the premier attempt by Andhra Pradesh in the “IT-ification” of its

police force has helped the state to command a pioneering lead over all other

Police Departments in India.

Introduction


The Police perform a variety of duties ranging from the detection and prevention

of crime and the keeping of law and order and public peace, to the regulation of

traffic, the verification of the antecedents of citizens and immigrants for various

official purposes and the execution of various orders of the judiciary.

Many of these functions involve gathering, sharing and analyzing information

about crime and people. Information technology has a crucial role to play in these

functions since it can help in handling the ever increasing amount of information

with reference to its systematic storage as well as the speed with which it can be

retrieved, shared and analysed for quicker and better decision support.

Technology reduces the time the policeman spends on paperwork, legal

formalities and administrative functions and frees him up to perform his primary

tasks of keeping peace, and preventing and detecting crime with greater efficacy.

By infusing transparency and efficiency into his functioning, it boosts his morale

and improves the quality of his interactions with the members of the general

public. It makes them more able and in the long run, more willing, to cooperate

with him in maintaining peace and order in the society. After all, a good rapport

with the civil society is a prerequisite to good policing in any society. Moreover, a

sad reality of our times is that criminals and terrorists are well-networked and

well-informed, and equipped with state-of-the-art technology. In order to fight

them successfully, police have to be several paces ahead.

Policing in the Age of ICT


As the introduction and expansion of IT in the functioning of policing became an

important priority, the police authorities decided to create a separate, dedicated

entity within the State Police Department and entrusted this key challenge to the

body. Thus the Police Computer Services (PCS) Wing came into existence. This

wing initiated the conceptualization and development of software applications,

the procurement of ICT infrastructure (hardware, software and netware), the

setting up of a strong communications' infrastructure for networking both within

individual Police units and across all the Police Units in the state, the building up

of physical infrastructure, the introduction of changes in the management of

processes including organizational ones as appropriate, and also the

systemization and standardization of all these efforts.

As per the proceedings of RC.No. 215/R2/99 dated 06-07-1999 of the DG & IGP,

A.P, Hyderabad, the Police Computer Services, Hyderabad was bifurcated from

the State Crime Records Bureau. These proceedings were ratified by the

Government through G.O. Rt No. 4219 Home (Pol-D) Dept. dated 24-12-1999.

While the SCRB was placed under direct control & supervision of theAddl. DGP

CID, Hyderabad, the PCS was created as an independent unit.

The Setting up of the PCS


Vision

Mission

Core Values

: An Information Centric police department that is well-connected with

the civil society, leveraging ICT to provide efficient service delivery to the citizen

of the State in order to minimize Crime and provide an environment for well-

being and confident action.

: Facilitate the computerization of A. P. Police to meet the needs of the

public with state-of-the-art technology.

:

PCS is committed to facilitate all aspects of policing including crime

prevention, investigation, traffic and law & order maintenance

through ICT enabled solutions.

Ability to provide access to information on a real time basis across all

locations of theAndhra Pradesh Police Department is crucial to the PCS.As a

wing that works between millions of citizens and tens of thousands of police

officers of different categories, this wing strives to make its interfaces most

user-friendly and simple.

The PCS always conceives of products, services and applications that can be

extended to permit more and more functions to seamlessly merge onto a

common IT platform, which can be deployed quickly and effectively across

multiple, scattered locations. The planning of technical architecture that can

provide such extensibility is given prime status by the PCS.

The PCS team believes in open source software to ensure the above

objectives and keeps maintenance costs for all the infrastructure within

sustainable norms.

Capacity building both of technology and human resources is considered to

be of prime importance to the PCS team. All the projects are worked out

around a well-structured training programme.

Vision, Mission and Core Values

•

•

•

•

•


ICT offers tremendous benefits through better connectivity in information

sharing, collaborated action on real time basis and in providing decision support

via the analysis of consolidated information across different dimensions like time,

geography and processes.

For example, let us consider the hypothetical case of a child that has been

reported as missing at one Police Station. If many other children have gone

missing in different near-by locations, this would get reported across different

Police Stations depending on the jurisdiction of the residence of the missing

children. Taken in isolation, one missing child episode renders a typical case that

has to be investigated using standard laid-down norms. However, through

information sharing and consolidation carried out automatically via ICT

solutions, if several similar cases are discovered, then the investigation takes on a

different approach. Not only does it portray specific and repetitive criminal

action (possibly by a set of repeat offenders), but analysis of this information

historically and geographically, helps the police personnel in their investigations,

and also alerts the general public. Further, as the data is shared on a real time basis,

the Police can collaborate across different Police Stations in prevention and

investigation of such events.

To give another example, knowledge of the crime history of each

place/time/person helps in preventing crime and untoward events. Thus, if a

policeman knows the history of violence in a station area for the past ten years, he

can spot the flash points of riots and other crimes, especially during specific,

sensitive occasions. This helps the police force to be better prepared at such times

and in such areas. However, it is impossible for individual policemen to retain

such data or remain in a place where they can be consulted whenever necessary.

Even if such data is documented in station records, one would need to laboriously

go through it, a process that is akin to looking for the proverbial needle in a

haystack. Typically, experienced Police personnel who have been associated

Benefits of ICT in Policing


with a specific location for sufficient time duration, would be able to leverage

their experiential knowledge in this regard. However, if this knowledge is

recorded and made easily accessible and amenable for decision support via an

ICT application, the department benefits tremendously. Further, this knowledge

can be consolidated for sharing across different locations as well as for improving

overall system functioning and reducing person dependency.

For the Police, computerization will facilitate faster exchange of critical

information between various departments and police stations. It will lead to a

substantial reduction in paperwork and free up personnel to focus on their core

work, an urgent need in a department like the Police that face a perennial

shortage of person-power.

The centralized information database with rapid retrieval systems would help

streamline decision making process for the Police across the entire State.. The

strength of the system lies in providing information-access on a real time basis,

enabling information consolidation at a central repository (which helps in

analysis) and in facilitating for collaborated decision-making (both internal and

external).


Benefits of ICT in Policing

Doing something for the first time is never easy. During the early stages of its

existence the PCS faced several problems.

First of all, it was necessary to identify systems and processes that were to be

computerized. In order to do this, all the well defined processes of the police

department including Crime Reporting, Investigation, Crime Prevention, Traffic,

Interaction with other Governmental Bodies and Internal Administrationhad to

be studied. After identifying the information elements and studying the Police

organization structure with the Police Station as the final Service Delivery point,

an analysis of all those functions that could be automated was performed. Only

after such an analysis could the actual computerization process start.

The next key challenge was to ensure proper involvement of the end user

throughout the ICT efforts to help maximize easy user acceptance. This had to be

carefully planned with a fine balance between collecting as much data as possible

without burdening the end users and providing immediate, simple benefits for the

end user to incentivize the user to use the application. As the systems evolved

further, more data had to be captured across the State and this was done in a

phased manner to help in easy, step by step implementation with minimal user

resistance.

In addition to the above, standardization of data that is being used in processes

was essential to enable computerization and consolidation for data

interoperability and future functionality focus towards data warehousing and

data mining.

Other than study, systemization and computerization (along with necessary

standardization of data elements), it was necessary to establish a plan for

enhancing the capacity of the personnel through training programmes on a

continual basis. From the DGPto the lowest ranked constable, everyone had to be

The Challenges of Computerization


made proficient in working in an ICT environment, and in using technology to

gather, maintain, share and access information from the state-wide corpus of it.

Without these being achieved, the computerization of the force would neither be

sustainable nor useful to society in the long run.


The Challenges of Computerization

The PCS understands the need to develop an organizational setup to handle the

central application/ data repository as well as undertake district-level initiatives

and requirements like training via district level IT teams. Having trained

personnel at the district level would enable the decentralization of field-level

decision making, the delegation of tasks down the hierarchy and most crucially,

the implementation and usage of ICT based operations across all 2500+ locations

in the state through application implementation and deployment.

The coordination and control of all the IT activities is handled by the PCS, lead by

the Inspector General (IG) and supported by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG).

Unit/District level IT teams support these activities at the field level. Typically,

these teams are about 10 to 15 personnel strong and are lead by an officer of the

rank ofAdditional Superintendent (Addl. SP).

At present, the PCS has five functional teams with roles focused on

infrastructural operations, interaction with field implementation teams, co-

ordination with software development vendors, management of database and of

core data centre. The teams are known as Data Centre Core Team, Operations

Team, Tech Team, DBATeam and Software Development Team.

For supporting the implementation of IT initiatives across the state, the PCS has

taken help from other sections within the Police Department to leverage their

existing presence and skills. The Police Communications Department has

deputed dedicated staff across the state for supporting ICT infrastructure. This IT

Core Team staff is responsible for maintaining the hardware, software and

networking environments of IT related infrastructure in each district / unit. Once

developed, the ownership of each application is typically handled to the

department/wing whose functions the application finally supports.

How does the PCS Work?


The Police Computer Services perform the work of proposing, planning and

implementing the automation of Police Administration and functional processes

through computerization. This involves detailed planning of

Software requirements

Hardware selection

Networking options & Connectivity

Database Management

Interaction with hardware/netware vendors,

Providing domain level support for Software developers

Creating Citizen Services

Deciding on maintenance issues and

Planning inter-departmental interfaces.

Besides, the PCS also supervises and monitors the maintenance of the Data

Centre and the Usage of applications/ databases hosted on the police Intranet.

Further, this wing also projects any need to organize training courses for IT core

team members in districts and units on the basics of computers as well as on

specialized technical areas and the usage of various applications developed and

implemented by them. They monitor the training activities taken up by these core

teams in their respective Districts / Units.

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Responsibilities of the PCS


Smt. Aruna Bahuguna IPS, the first Director and IGP of the PCS made it a

separate entity within the department in 1998. During her tenure, the primary

thrust of the work of the PCS was on the infrastructure build-up including

procurement of hardware and the collection and digitizing of data and records,

wherever needed. The summary statements and about 20 forms that each police

station needed to be sent to the National Crime Bureau were getting

computerized at this stage.

During the tenure of Sri S.V. Ramana Murthy, IPS, a comprehensive study was

conducted throughout the entire Department to identify modules and systems and

to start computerization. The PCS collaborated with M/S CMC Ltd., a public

sector company, and started the process of computerization of several identified

modules.

The focus at this stage was on the computerization of the Crime Recording and

A Brief History of the Evolution of the PCS


List of Officers who lead the Computerization of Police

Smt. Aruna Bahuguna, IPS 12-06-1998 to 26-08-1999

(in her capacity as Director,SCRB) and as IG from 26-08-1999 to 25-05-2001

Sri. SSP Yadav, IPS 08-01-1992 to 13-02-1995

Sri. Kamal Kumar, IPS 13-02-1995 to 11-06-1998

27-05-2001 to 05-01-2005Sri. S.V. Ramana Murthy, IPS

Sri. Vinay Ranjan Ray, IPS 05-01-2005 to 09-01-2007

Sri. M. Mahendar Reddy, IPS 10-01-2007 to 01-09-2008

Sri. T. Krishna Prasad IPS, 01-09-2008 OnwardsD i r e c t o r , P o l i c eCommunicat ions holdingAdditional Charge as IGP, PCS

Investigation process. The first version of Electronic Computerization of Police

Services, eCOPS, was rolled out during this period. This version of eCOPS was

on a client server architecture, in a distributed database model requiring regular

transfer of data through e-mails. This required servers at each unit headquarters

and database-driven applications to be loaded at each Police Station. All

modifications/and rectifications had to be updated at each server. Though

maintenance was tough and expensive, it was a good learning experience and

PCS activities got stabilized during this period.

In 2005, Sri Vinay Ranjan Ray, IPS, with the help of rapidly emerging technology

environments, took the decision of shifting the entire process from the client

server platform to a web-enabled one.

Rendering the system web-enabled allowed anytime-anywhere operations,

minimized field-level maintenance cost, allowed quicker turn around times for

new, improved application rollouts and also provided a mechanism to

consolidate information at a central location thus providing the correct impetus

for data warehousing, mining and analysis in future. It was during this same

period that a data centre was established in Hyderabad, which was inaugurated by

the Chief Minister, Sri.Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

During the tenure of Sri M. Mahendar Reddy, IPS, the advantages of a Data

Centre driven model was fully utilized and the Intranet portal providing a slew of

police applications, accessible all over the State, was developed. The Intranet

portal gained a proper structure and design and became a very easy interface to

handle.

By 2008, the culture of computerization had struck deep roots in the ways of

functioning of the department.



Sri T. Krishna Prasad IPS, the current IGP, is concentrating on the enterprise

mode of computerizing, wherein all relevant cohesive operations and

applications are merged onto one single platform providing a seamless

experience to the end user along with combining the benefits of all the existing

applications. This Enterprise eCOPS will be a major upgrade over the existing

application. It will also incorporate appropriate technologies to render it for easy

integration across different applications external to the Police Department (the

Passport Application for example). The Enterprise eCOPS initiative will be a

significant step towards performance, scalability and extensibility of ICT driven

services that are provided by the Police department.

During this period, AP Police has entered a new IT era

.

There is also a plan to merge information and communication within the police

force. As computers help organize, collate and analyze data and derive

information, and the communication setup ensures that this information is

available across the organization for decision support and action, a merger of

these two functionalities is perceived to be necessary for smoother functioning

and quicker resolutions. The department is now formalizing such a merger of the

Police Communication Wing and Police Computer Services.

. From the first of

January 2009 onwards, each and every Police Station in AP began issuing

FIRs online



The Police Computer Services (PCS) is headquartered at the police headquarters

in Hyderabad. The data centre is located in the PCS premises. The PCS also has

the infrastructure for sustaining about 10-15 of its staff as well as computer

workplaces for providing development support to any team of about 15-20

persons. A conference room and a training room with appropriate e-classroom

facilities are available.

The ICT solutions incorporated by the PCS follow an open source policy,

typically using the Java based frameworks. The Database Management

functionality is provided by an Enterprise Oracle database. All others are java-

based. Specific attention has been given to interoperability across different

systems with data integration via SOAand XML.

The procurement of new machines is typically done with the purchase of OS

licenses. There is a drive to go in for Linux based systems with Open Office for

future procurements. PCS&S deployed 42 servers in its Data Centre and installed

5000 systems across the State in November 2008. Each and every Police Station

in the State has at least one Computer. All these computers across the

organization are connected locally on the LAN. Applications are being

developed in a web-environment with a centralized data centre (at the police

headquarters at Hyderabad), built to host all these applications.

The department has encouraged each unit district to develop a relationship with

local vendors for hardware and networking support and maintenance. This

improves the overall uptime of all systems and hence proves to be more

economical.

Infrastructure


The communication network of the department connects each police station in

the state across the entire organizational hierarchy, with the police headquarters.

The computers at the lowest level of hierarchy would need to have just the basic

operating systems for browser based support. In addition, simple office

applications would be available for local usage.

The connectivity across all these police stations is currently via combinations of

dial-up based phone lines, CDMA wireless connections, State wide WAN

(APSWAN) and DSL broadband. The quality of the bandwidth available varies

and it is difficult to host applications demanding higher connectivity. The PCS

has outsourced the entire connectivity responsibility to BSNL by entering into a

partnership with them. BSNL would also keep on evolving solutions towards a

better communication infrastructure as and when such alternatives are developed.

The PCS also constantly invites and receives feedback from the users of various

applications through IT Core Team Members and furnishes such feedback to the

appropriate teams for further action. Bug related feedback is reported to the

Development Team, so that the latter can rectify shortcomings in the principal

software and make the necessary modifications to it. A Help Desk has been

established at the Police Computer Services for the registration of Complaints

and rectification of the problems relating to the Hardware, Software, Network,

Internet, and Applications from all the Districts and Units in the Police

Department including the Headquarters.

Communication Framework


Through collaborations on the computerization of citizen-facing duties and for

back end support, the PCS works to enrich the link between the police department

and similar departments to form an integral citizen-service network. We help the

units of the AP Police collaborate with each other as well as with other

government departments such as the Passport Office, Courts, prominent

Hospitals, the Road Transport Authority, the e-Seva network, the Public

Distribution System (for a Data base for Ration cards) and all the prisons.

Along with the partnership with BSNL on connectivity, we also liaise with

various Government and Public Sector bodies such as the IT & C Department and

NIC for getting technical solutions and guidance in the task of networking all

Police Stations in the State with the Central Data Centre through Broadband

internet, CDMA, Dial-up connectivity, etc.

Collaborations


Applications for public interactions are primarily focused on providing

information and seeking collaborative support wherever possible for support in

Policing. The public are given access to the applications via the website

(apstatepolice.org).

The website (apstatepolice.org) provides the public collaboration interface,

where a citizen can avail information about the status of various tasks for which

they approach the police station as well as share any information that they might

like the Police to know of. Availability of information such as the status of any

case in a police station/court, passport verification, traffic challan and document

delivery status make things a lot easier for the public. Further, this approach helps

in enhancing the transparency of the police as a law enforcing body and reduces

the citizen's dependence on officialdom.

The more secured framework that was required for applications involving

information sharing/collaboration within the Police Department is provided via

the intranet portal used privately by the police personnel.

All the above applications are hosted at the centralized, secured Data Centre

located at the Police Headquarters.

The primary application that provides basic operational support for Citizen

Service Delivery is the Electronic Computerisation of Police Services (eCOPS)

application. eCOPS is the first significant step towards the integration of the

state-of-art IT infrastructure within theAndhra Pradesh State Police Department.

It provides a platform for computerizing all key investigation operations from

filing an F.I.R. through creating the final Charge sheet. eCops is accessible across

hierarchy levels and State-wide locations so as to enable the easy accessibility of

information throughout the department and it facilitates faster and better

decision-making and crime prevention via information collation and

collaborative action.

Application Categories & Key Applications


Whenever a Crime occurs and a complaint is registered, there is a lot of

associated Crime data that needs to be analysed such as the vehicle number, ID

card or phone number. For example, if the number of a car is available, it is

important that the details of the owner are also available for the police personnel

immediately. The ThirdEyeApplication, is a database driven search software that

helps in Crime investigation by providing information regarding mobile phones,

telephones, passports, ration-cards, voter-ids, vehicle registrations etc..

Details of repeat offenders, if available in a consolidated manner in a database,

can help the Police force identify Crime patterns faster. This provides substantial

support in Crime Investigations. The application that makes details of criminals,

their behavioral patterns and crime history accessible is known as the Criminal

Intelligence System.

Another application, the e-challan system allows the police personnel to issue

challans by post using ICT methods- and helps bring down traffic violations by

making the citizens learn that they can be traced easily and thereby helping crime

prevention.

The A P Police Messaging System provides a customized and secured interface

for communication within the Police department.

Other applications provided via the intranet are Issue Tracking System enabling

the end user to post and track issues regarding IT service delivery; File

Movement and tracking System that helps one to know the status of a file; and

information sharing links such as manuals of investigation, encyclopedia of

Indian laws andAPPolice Manual.

Many internal Police administrative functions have also been computerized, the

most important of them being Police Office onLine Information System (POLIS)



that stores and consolidates details of each staff of the department. Some other

computerized functions are financial accounting, the management of stores and

procurement, the budget management, the vehicular & workshop management

system, traffic, passport and immigration processing, file movement and tracking,

audit, accommodation, company operations, license monitoring, public

grievances redressal, Assembly questions compilation and interfaces with the

Road TransportAuthority, e-Seva and other Citizen Services.

The PCS is also venturing into working with newer technologies such as, Radio

Frequency Identification technology (for possible tagging and tracking a product

or person using radio waves), Geographical Information System (for integrating

with the station crime history and analyzing them historically and

geographically), Global Positioning Systems (for getting the exact location in

which the person is stationed), and Biometric data such as finger prints, retina

recognition, eye rays, facial recognition and DNA test (for authenticating people

as well as in investigating cases).



The total number of personnel in the AP Police Department across the state is

over 100,000, spread out over about 50 different units. A unit is either a district

(like Medak) or an administrative entity (like a battalion). The State-wide

deployment of IT applications implies that all personnel, including Station

Writers, Court Constables, Inspector Writers & Camp Clerks, across all the units

have to be trained to a sufficient degree, for which three kinds of users have been

identified: end users, admin users and operators.

Training of such large number of personnel (over 1,00,000) needs a graduated

approach with several trainers being identified at the unit level to impart training

within the units. The trainers in turn have to be trained at the headquarters and

have to be provided support in terms of logistics, training material, schedules,

course curriculums, methods of evaluation and feedback, etc. The department

has already identified trainers across units and the process of training at both

levels (trainers and end user students) is followed currently.

IT Training has been made mandatory for Police recruits during their Induction

Training at Police Training Camps.

This effort of training (which will be a continuous year-round process) needs to

be made with properly coordinated planning. One of the advantages that the AP

Police enjoys with regard to all this is the fact that most police personnel in the

state have a working knowledge of English.

Along with class room training, the PCS has also developed standardized web-

based training modules in the operation of the above systems, for greater ease of

use and cost effectiveness. There are also computer based tests for different

applications. The faculty for the class room training is arranged in liaison with the

NationalAcademy of Construction.

Training


After standardization, systematization, planning, procurement, development and

capacity building for the end users, comes incessant follow up and steady

monitoring. If the track of computerization is not well-kept from data entry

onwards, it is prone to falling midway.

Applications are developed in a manner that allows the Director General of

Police to access any latest information / data from any location across the State.

The top level management, including the IG, interacts with station-heads through

regular video conferences in order to clearly understand the difficulties and

issues in working their way through ICT all over the state.

Follow Up


The concept of e-governance has made its way with Andhra Pradesh leading the

country in the field of technological advances. With the launch of eCOPS in June

2002 and later its statewide deployment on the web-enabled platform in 2008,

Andhra Pradesh became the first state in India to introduce a state-wide online

police network to improve the performance of state police units in controlling

crime, maintaining law and order, and in administration. The connectivity across

each of the police locations helps in saving of time on record maintenance, in

minimization of duplicated work and in smoothening of processes to reduce the

workload of the A P police while making it a more friendly organization with

better output. What is more of an achievement in equipping the police force to

access and deploy data any where, any time and analyse them on real time basis is

the extremely cost effective manner in which the process got developed and the

wise use of technology and existing infrastructure that kept the maintenance

expenses minimum.

The fact that the ventures of AP Police have become an inspiration in e-

governance has been confirmed by the recent initiatives of the police forces of

Karnataka and West Bengal, who have come a good deal forward on a similar

road, completing some pilot projects. Other state governments have also planned

developments in this direction.

E-governance is touted by many as the next great Indian revolution. Beyond the

hype, however, is a growing movement in India and other Asian countries to

experiment with governance-through-Internet. Governments of all political

persuasions will feel the pressure to adapt their machinery to advances in ICT.

The e-government environment meaning- less red tape, more transparent

regulations, easier interactions-is where all will need to go and A P Police,

through visionary steps and incessant work at all levels, have managed to

inculcate the “why” of IT in the minds of the police force all over the state. The

bold step taken ten years ago was followed up by an implementation scheme with

Where is the PCS now?


an eye for the detail in a department that spans across 1,00,000+ people. The

adaptability to newer technological possibilities, innovative thinking and defined

processes and its “long term vision; short term plans” mode enabled the PCS to

make its way through the initial years of difficulties and evolve with time.

The ventures of the PCS has received due recognition and accolades: eCOPS

bagged the NationalAward for exemplary eGovernance initiative of Government

ofA.P. TheAward was presented to the then the then Inspector General of the PCS,

Sri. S.V.Ramana Murthy, I.P.S by the Hon'ble Deputy Prime Minister of India

Shri. L.K.Advani on 13th November 2003 at the inaugural session of 7th

National Conference of eGovernance at Chennai.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) also spearheads a National Level

Initiative for computerization of Police Departments for all the States in India.

This programme started off with the CIPA (Common Integrated Police

Application) that seeks to automate all functions carried out at the Police Stations.

The CIPA programme is now evolving into the CCTNS (Crime & Criminal

Tracking Network System) programme which has a much broader agenda and

includes aspects regarding networking infratructure, person power deployment

for operations and Management and enhanced application functionality, beyond

the scope envisaged by CIPA.

In essence CIPA also is following an approach that was followed by eCOPS as it

evolved- from a client server stand-alone system at police stations towards a web-

enabled data-centre based enterprise application that helps collate and analyze all

the information across the State. Further, CIPA faces unique challenges

pertaining vast disparities towards computerization readiness across the different

States of India.

The eCOPS initiative has already incorporated all the above learnings and has



evolved towards a web-based application. Further, the Andhra Pradesh Police

realize the critical importance of allowing seamless data sharing across the

systems in different States and hence has incorporated appropriate technologies

like SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) and XML (Extensible Markup

Language) based messaging in the eCops framework to enable easier future

integration with National and International Databases and applications used

across the entire Justice Delivery System.



The PCS is now planning a consolidation of various applications that it has

developed over the last few years and increase its effectiveness. For example, a

synergizing of eCOPS and 3 eye is already in the pilot phase. Through this, the

details given in an FIR would also search the 3 eye data bank and give details of

the vehicle/person involved without any manual involvement. Thus the PCS is

moving towards unifying the various applications that have been developed

through single access points at the interface and also through synergizing various

applications. Such an “enterprise' model of eCOPS will further add to the pace

and exactitude of the system. For eCOPS, it is now a phase of extension and

rebranding by integrating it with other already functioning applications, so as to

have a single platform for the delivery of multiple diverse services. The Intranet

Portal that encompasses all applications will thus emerge into “enterprise

eCOPS”.

The AP Police has already embarked on providing total information exchange

capability across all its units. Some of these units are the AP Special Police, the

CID and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. We also envision the linking

of Police Department with other departments such as the Passport Office, the

Regional Transport Authority, etc. In the long-term, we hope to link the APPD

with the Police Departments of other states in the country and even link the

eCOPS database with national databases on crime and law and order.

rd

rd

Enterprise eCOPS: The Road Ahead


The IT-fication of a large government department needs to be carefully planned

keeping several facets in mind. The PCS is aware of the need to have a long-term

planning perspective to guide the IT evolution within the department and has also

documented a roadmap with the help of professional support from NISG

(National Institute of Smart Governance).

The roadmap for future evolution of Police Computer Services can be discussed

in five categories:

The data centre remains the key component for all applications that are deployed

across the State. Such centralized deployment model enables the department to

quickly release newer applications, minimize maintenance costs at the field level

since only simple browser-capable systems are necessary at this level and enables

the consolidation of State-wide data to help in analysis for better decision support.

The existing Data Centre continues to evolve into a better infrastructure to

provide enhanced robustness, better performance and 24*7 availability. The

scalability and performance issues are being improved by bringing in

infrastructure like SAN (Storage Area Network) and Blade servers along with

clustering of applications and databases. Security upgradation is done within the

declared framework of Militarized and Non-Militarized zones with a clear

separation between the internal (intranet) network and the 'external interface'

(internet) network. The PCS is also in the process of setting up a Disaster

Recovery (DR) System to provide continual availability of the Data Centre

Services, in a phased manner, which also requires a good deal of organizational

support.

1. Data Centre

Route Map


2.Applications

3. Hardware & Networking

One of the focal areas of the PCS team in the time to come is that of embedding

the applications in personal digital assistants such as cell phones or blackberries,

as these gadgets will fast become an integral part of modern living. The technical

architecture is designed to support interoperability. Single sign on interfaces are

being planned to enable police personnel to access various applications with a

single login and password.

Other projects and proposals include improved messenger systems for secured

communication, database interfaces from other Government departments for

alerts regarding certificate fraud detections, person identifications, security

access systems and so on. Further, all the SHO operations at police station court

monitoring systems etc are being envisaged. The overarching principle is to

strengthen and support the investigation officers in detecting criminal case vis-à-

vis mere dashboards.

All field locations (upwards of 1600) have in total more than 5200 computers

connected across local and wide area networks. It is important to ensure that the

basic hardware and networking are available on a 24 by 7 basis for the police

personnel.

The PCS is already on the job of trying to bring all the hardware and networking

infrastructure across the State onto a standard norm with respect to the quantity of

computing power available as well as the uniformity of system software

resources needed. Maintenance of this infrastructure is done using local support

available across the State.


Route Map

There is a need to provide a centralized team and framework for hardware and

networking support. A Hardware and Networking Laboratory is being

established at the Police Communications Office to train technical police

personnel for providing such support. In the near future, the department

envisages complete support of such equipment solely through internal resources.

The PCS also plans to set up a central Project Management Office (PMO) with a

core staff experienced in IT project management, to manage all the IT initiatives.

TheAP Police Department has over 1.2 lakh personnel. All these personnel have

to be trained on usage of computers so that they are capable of utilizing the

available computer resources in an optimum manner. As on date, on an average,

each police station in the state has about 4-5 computer literates who can use

eCOPS applications. In about 3 years, all the field staff should be in a position to

implement the core applications such as eCOPS.

On the human resource infrastructure front, identifying, training and upgrading

are keys to improve productivity, which the PCS will continue doing making the

best of use of e-learning modules such as computer based tests.

Since training is a continual process, the PCS has embarked upon standardized

course contents and programmes for training of trainers to help disseminate

quality training in a uniform manner across the State. Periodic Training-Need-

Analysis (TNA) exercises are being carried out to enable continual fine tuning of

such training needs.

4. Skill Upgradation across all Police Personnel


Route Map

5. Internal Team Development for SoftwareApplications

Development of Software applications for the Police Department needs to have

person power resources to help conceptualize, plan, develop, implement and

monitor software applications that help effectively improve the productivity of

the Police Personnel across the State.

Typically, the conceptualization and implementation support for such application

development programmes was provided by officers of the PCS while the actual

software was developed by professional third parties.

The Police Department seeks to develop its internal technical resources and

increase their contribution from domain expertise provision and implementation

support to actual development and maintenance support. Such level of technical

preparedness needs detailed long term planning for which appropriate training is

now provided for the personnel with appropriate technical orientation. In future,

the PCS hopes that the internal police personnel will be capable of providing

most of the maintenance support for all deployed software applications. Further,

these trained personnel can also help build small applications focused on specific

functional areas of the Department. All such small applications would be added

onto the existing framework of the Enterprise eCops.

At a time when technology is growing rapidly, the PCS team is looking forward to

bring the fruits of it to the Police force by deftly harnessing the possibilities of

new age technologies and the needs of the people, drawing on the lessons of the

last ten years.


Route Map

This document testifies what the vision, commitment and hard work of a number

of persons at the PCS have done to take the Andhra Police to the digital age. Its

evolution in the last decade also testifies the emergence of technology over the

period and wise deployment of it from time to time. We, at the PCS, convey our

best thanks to the people of Andhra Pradesh and India for enabling us in this

venture. We also hope to be able to keep up and improve our performance in the

days to come, for a better society and a happier living for all.

Conclusion


Appendix 1: Organizational Structure

Staff Structure:- The sanction and present Staff structure in PCS is as follows:

1. Inspector General of Police (PCS) 1 1 Nil

2. Dy. Inspector General of Police (PCS) 1 Nil 1

3. Superintendent of Police (PCS). 1 Nil 1

4. Dy. Superintendent of Police 6 2 4

5. Inspector of Police 2 1 1

6. SIs of Police 4 3 1

7. Head Constables 4 2 2

8. Police Constables 3 3 Nil

9. Inspectors of Police 2 2 Nil

10. Sub-Inspector of Police 3 2 1

11. Asst. Director (Computer) 2 Nil 2

12. Associate Systems Analysts 2 Nil 2

13. 8 6

Police Computer Services (Nil)

Attached to CID / SCRB

14. 18 14

Police Computer Services

Attached to SCRB

Attached to Addl. DGP (P&L),Peshi

15. Office Supdt. 1 1 Nil

16. Sr. Assistants 2 2 Nil

17. Sr. Steno 1 1 Nil

18. Jr. Assistants 2 Nil 2

19. Typist 1 1 Nil

20. Record Assistants 1 1 Nil

Core-Group

Technical

Programmers : 2

(2-working)

Data Entry Operators : 4

(2-working)

(1-working)

(1-working)

Ministerial

Total Strength 65 28 37

Sl.No.

Name of the Post SanctionedStrength

PresentStrength

Vacant


Appendix 2 : Success Story 1

The 3 eye has already played a pivotal role in the apprehension of criminals in

some cases. The most sensational of these was the murder of Manda Bhushaiah

by his son-in-law Appireddy Raju, on the evening of 15.05.2008 at Nellipaka

village of Bhadrachalam Mandal.

The culprit, who had married his wife, Manda Aruna in 2002, was from a

different caste. This fact, and the marriage itself, were a constant source of

chagrin to his father-in-law. Bhushaiah never passed up an opportunity to try and

break up the marriage, and had furious altercations with Raju on several

occasions as a result of this attitude.

In 2004, when Raju committed a property offence, his father-in-law tried

unsuccessfully to persuade his daughter not to bail out her husband. In 2008, a

little over a week before the murder,Appireddy Raju tried to assault his father-in-

law with a pestle, but ended up injuring his brother-in-law. Raju was taken into

custody but was once again bailed out by his wife against the insistent advice of

her father. On the evening of the murder he had a quarrel with his wife and was

beating her, when Manda Bhushaiah intervened on his daughter's side, only to be

bludgeoned to death.

The murder was reported on the same night by the victim's wife and a case

registered at the Bhadrachalam Rural PS. Raju had fled the spot for Vijayawada.

From there he called his wife on her mobile phone from coin operated pay phones

at various places. He asked her to come to Khammam town and she obeyed. What

he didn't know was the fact that 2 teams of constables were accompanying her. In

the meanwhile, the SI at Bhadarchalam had opened the 3 eye tool and was able to

get the addresses of all the pay phones from which Raju called. He kept passing

on this information to the accompanying constables and they eventually

apprehended the culprit, dramatically, as he was making a final phone call

directing his wife to a proposed rendezvous.

rd

rd


Other Stories

In the above case, we have seen the efficacy of the 3 Eye in tracking down

criminals through the telephones they use. Another powerful tool which forms

part of the 3 Eye is the Vehicle Tracking System (VTS). Using this, the police

can track vehicles that have been stolen or involved in hit and run cases, even if

the registration number or ownership of those vehicles is changed after the crime.

This is simply because the database contains the engine and chassis number of all

vehicles in addition to their registration numbers and details pertaining to their

first owners.

In 10-20 cases from Karimnagar, Prakasam and Visakhapatnam districts, and

others from Hyderabad city, vehicles have been seized at check points from

suspicious looking riders and restored to their rightful owners.

In a fascinating case, a vehicle which was stolen in one district was found in

another and restored to its owner in a third! An abandoned Bajaj Pulsar bearing

the registration numberAP27 1948 was found within the Gambhiraopet PS limits

(Karimnagar District) on the morning of 08.02.07. The SI of Gambhiraopet with

the help of IT Core Team fed the number into the VTS only to find that it actually

belonged to a Rajdoot motor cycle. The team then fed the engine number of the

vehicle into the system and the actual registration number was revealed to be

AP36 P2503 (Bajaj Pulsar). The ownership of the vehicle, which was worth

Rs. 45,000, was traced to K. Sammi Reddy of Hanamkonda. The vehicle, the

grateful owner revealed, had been stolen from Siddipet, Medak district.

rd

rd


Hit and Run Cases

In West Godavari district alone, a staggering 59 out of 92 theft and hit and run

cases have been solved using the VTS. A thrilling example was a case registered

in 2006 in Bhimadolu. The local police managed to get the registration number of

the vehicle and with that they traced the ownership. In July 2006, when they

finally arrested the absconding owner of the Bhimadolu incident while he was

driving another vehicle, the one involved in the crime had changed hands no less

than 5 times!

In another such tragic hit and run case in Bejjanki, Karimnagar district, the local

SI traced the victim only through his vehicle number on the VTS and was able to

hand over his body to his kin.


Appendix 3: eLXNeCOPS

During the Lok Sabha polls of 2009, the PCS team came up with a new module of

eCOPS, specially titled eLXNeCOPS. The election process is a period of

gruelling work and massive documentation for the police. Every single move

needs to be planned, shared and made available. This used to require enormous

amount of work, as data had to be transferred quickly too. For the 2009 elections,

the PCS team equipped the police force with eLXNeCOPS where a separate

election cell messaging system and user IDs, both group and individual, were

established. All the circulars, bandobust schemes, daily situation reports, details

of force deployment, preventive actions, formats and communications were

available online. This enabled authorized personnel to upload circulars from

anywhere. Major law and order incidents were logged and public meetings

chartered.


Appendix 4: Data Centre Evolution


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Documents