ICT in Police Administration in India: Prospects and Challenges

P. Chidambaram, former home minister of India once said: "The police stations in the country are, today, virtually unconnected islands." All over the world police have the same type of functions enforcing criminal law (law enforcement), maintaining law and order and investigating crime. It provides the necessary check against the ambivalence of the human nature. As the worldwide network grows, crime and criminal activities have changed their shape and nature. Crime has become organized and criminals are well networked. For example, mafia, terrorism, drug peddling etc. Realizing the gross deficiency in connectivity in bursting of crime and criminal networks, the Indian government is implementing an ambitious scheme called "Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS)". This is an effort of the government to modernize the police force besides giving priority to enhance outcomes in the areas of crime investigation and crime detection, information gathering, and its dissemination among various police organizations and units across the country. CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing efficient and effective policing at all levels and especially at the Police Station level through adoption of principles of e-Governance. The objective is to make police functioning citizen friendly and transparent by computerizing Police Stations and improving delivery of citizen-centric services through effective usage of ICTs. The present paper is an attempt to present the prospects and constraints in modernizing police administration across the country.