New Delhi. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has called upon the Police organisations to collaborate with reputed institutes such as the IITs and IIMs for innovative solutions in technology and management.

He said students from these institutes should be invited for internship every year so that constraints can be overcome and new technologies developed.

“Based on your requirements, you can collaborate with various institutions for research and developing technological solutions and training,” said Mr Singh, inaugurating the 2nd Conference of Young Superintendents of Police, being organized by the Bureau of Police Research & Development (BPR&D) in New Delhi July 27.

“If we make coordinated efforts and share among ourselves the various issues, problems, failures and success, we can improve our efficiency and effectiveness in managing law and order, border guarding, terrorism and extremism,” he added.

The Union Home Minister said adoption of technology will spur indigenous manufacturing and cut imports. “We are dependent on import of arms and other advanced equipments to a large extent. We can focus on indigenous manufacturing of such advanced technologies in collaboration with specialized institutes keeping in mind the special features we require. Thus we will develop in-house capacity and reduce dependency on imports,” said Mr Singh.

“We must make best use of the presently available technologies and think of out-of-the-box ideas to find problem based solutions,” he added.

The Union Home Minister said the Police Forces are saddled dealing with complex crimes and criminals armed with automatic weaponry. “We should focus on monitoring and analysis of crimes and develop such methodologies and techniques that crime can be nipped in the bud. “Many agencies and organisations are trying to develop crime data analytics software. This will result in Predictive Policing, which will not only help check crimes but also keep tab on terrorist activities and Naxal attacks. BPR&D has shared a project study report on ‘Establishing Social Media Labs and collection of intelligence from the social media’ with the State Police Forces,” said the Home Minister.

Mr Singh said we are making effective use of technology to secure our vast coastline. “We have a multi-dimensional arrangement comprising the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police Forces for coastal security. Under the Coastal Security Scheme initiated by the MHA in 2005-06, fishing boats and trawlers have been equipped with Radio Frequency Detection System and GPS based techniques. BPR&D is providing training component to the National Academy of Coastal Policing, where coastal policing standards are at par with the best in the world,” the Home Minister added.

The Union Home Minister said the Government is committed to pursuing the Police Modernization programme vigorously. “We have provided the Police Forces with the modern SX-95 and Breta weapons. To deal with crowd management and public outrage, Police Forces need to use an array of lethal and non-lethal weapons. BPR&D has undertaken a research project on the development and testing of lethal and non-lethal weapons,” he said.

“Drones or UAVs have emerged as a useful new technology in policing. Ministry of Civil Aviation has constituted a Task Force in which BPR&D is a key participant, to prepare a roadmap for application of UAVs,” he added.

Mr Singh said technology is also altering the crime investigation procedures. “The cabinet recently gave its approval to a bill that would make DNA finger printing as a valid evidence. Rape detection kits are being provided in every district. Cyber Forensic Cell is also being strengthened. Police Forces are being encouraged to develop mobile apps to provide various services to the citizens,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Director, Intelligence Bureau, Rajiv Jain said the Government’s resolve towards Police Modernization is evident from the fact that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it a point to spend two-to-three days with the Police Officers during the annual DGPs Conference.

In his address, Director General, BPR&D, Dr AP Maheshwari said technology has vastly improved policing and it is being used to provide Citizen Centric Services, implement the Safe Cities & Smart Cities projects and Social Media Analytics.

The two-day conference was being attended by over 100 Superintendents of Police and senior officers from the States and CAPFs. The closing address at the conference would be delivered by Puducherry Lt Governor Dr Kiran Bedi the next day.