How is the challenge for Himachal Police to maintain the long borders in remote terrains with States like J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and Ladakh?
The State has 216 kms long border with Jammu & Kashmir, 352 kms with Punjab, 120 kms with Haryana, 02 kms with UP, 74 kms with Ladakh and 139 kms with Uttarakhand. It has an international border of about 240 kms with China.The different borders have different problems related to both crime and law & order. The southern and western border districts have issues of illegal mining, along with smuggling of both drugs and liquor. Also, with the events in the neighbouring States, such as growth of radicalism and militancy, security profile of the state of Himachal Pradesh requires reassessment along with framing of new security strategy and protocols for border management.
Also, the industrial hubs in the state such as Baddi, Kala Amb, Paunta Sahib etc are located in the border districts of the state. It is a known fact that public order is the quintessential requirement for development of industries. There is mass daily migration of both men and material to and fro across State borders to these industrial areas. The mass economic activity also provides opportunities for anti-social elements, and often organised criminal gangs target entities in the industrial areas.
Needless to add that Himachal Pradesh shares about 240 kms border with China, out of which 160 kms is in Kinnaur District and 80 kms in Spiti area of Lahaul & Spiti district. We are maintaining vigil and security along this border. Lahaul & Spiti has acquired strategic importance due to constructions of new border highways and tunnels such as Atal Tunnel Rohtang and Shinkula Tunnel which will be used for movement of armed forces. These parts of the State are uninhabited and unmanned over a large stretches of the highways, which adds to the complexity of the task of border management.
In addition to the above, there are many important tourist places and religious places (Shaktipeeths, Gurudwaras and Buddhist Monasteries)where large number of tourists and devotees visit. Then, Himachal Pradesh is also the abode of His Holiness Dalai Lama.
How can technology help considering the sensitivity of these borders especially checking cross border liquor, drugs, arms and narcotics smuggling?
It is evident that technology does help in bridging the gap between the challenges faced at the State’s border. Surveillance remains the key to securing Himachal Pradesh against anti-social elements and activities occurring across borders.
Technologies being effectively used are CCTVs and Intelligent Traffic Management Systems (ITMS) which are the backbone of surveillance over movement of traffic across borders.Further Command and Control Centre, integrated with feed from CCTV cameras help in not only effective traffic management, but also prevention, detection and solving crime on a daily basis. Drones are the new-age watchtowers. The various new-age payloads available in drones, are being used for various purposes e.g. night vision, infrared imaging etc to state a few.
Moreover, data science technology i.e. data points related to various crime sets are helping in different analysis, such as spatial and temporal analysis of various facets of inter-State crime.
How has been the transformation in the police force especially in terms of technology adoption?
The police force has transformed and is effectively using technology to address the aforementioned challenges. Drones are extensively being used in checking illegal mining in border areas. These drones are equipped with IP-enabled cameras capable of automatic number plate recognition.
Each district has been equipped with Intelligent Traffic Management System(ITMS) which has Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR). The feed collected from various CCTV cameras are being integrated into the Command and Control Room which have been established in each district of the State.
The State’s efforts have been acknowledged as the Command and Control Centre and CCTV Surveillance Matrix (Project Third Eye) implemented in Baddi Police district was awarded the Silver Category Award for National e-Governance for 2022, by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievance (DARPG), Government of India. A decrease of 37 per cent was registered in 2020 in the theft and burglary cases vis-à-vis 2018. The recovery percentage, which stood at a mere 21.84 per cent in 2018, increased to 73.67 per cent in 2019 and 77.1 per cent in 2020. A majority of it was due to the presence of CCTV cameras.
Project Third Eye, offers a model template for other industrial areas as well.
H.P. Police is using modern technology for its police work. As a result, we have been awarded with the following:-
The Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System(ICJS), is an ambitious All-India project to link up all the pillars of the Criminal Justice System- Police, Prisons, Prosecution, Forensics and Courts. Himachal Pradesh Police was awarded the 3rdPrize- All India in ICJS by the Government of India.
Himachal Pradesh Police secured 1st position in implementation of CCTNS project in the category “North East &Hilly States” three years in a row, 2020, 2021 & 2022. Now we are first All India in CCTNS.
We were also All India first in passport verification reports and awarded National Winner prize by the Ministry of External Affairs.
How is Himachal geared up to handle the new age cyber-crimes especially with demographic, social and technological changes dictating new formats of crime?
In order to deal with the cybercrimes, three Cyber Crime Police Stations have been established in the state. The long term plan is to have a Cyber Crime Police Station in each District of the State. High level technology software have been provided to Cyber Police Station.Regular training is being imparted to the police personnel to deal with the cyber-crimes.Zero FIRs are being registered to address jurisdictional issues.Regular advisories are being issued through social media to make aware the general public.A State Co-ordination Centre for attending Cyber Crime related complaints on Cyber Crime Toll Free number 1930 has also been established at Shimla.
During the year 2022, 3630 complaints of cyber-frauds were received and
Rs. 75,76,789 got refunded to the victims.
How can there be more synergy between technology and our legal provisions in CrPC so that we can have an increase rate of conviction?
In order to increase conviction rate, Robust Trial Management was started by us, under which the following initiatives to monitor murder, rape, POCSO and ND&PS Act cases have been taken:-
Weekly monitoring of crime data for deep data analytics led to reduction in crime (overall, IPC crime, violent crime and crime against women).
HP Police started new registers viz., number 26 for Sexual Offenders, register number 27 for Suicide Cases, register number 28 for Missing Women & Children and register number 29 for Drug Trafficking Operators. Constant monitoring of offenders has reduced these heinous crimes.
Over 4300 sexual offenders have been identified so far, out of which 55 are repeat offenders.
Recovery of missing children 95% (total missing-836 & traced 791) and women 85 % (missing 2840 and traced 2402), is one of the highest in the country. This has prevented future crimes from happening, especially human trafficking.
Over 2300 Drug Trafficking Operators (DTOs) have been identified, out of which 400 are repeat offenders.
For effective and successful prosecution of crimes against women and children, 35 Victim & Witness Support Officers (VWSO) are rendering services in 50 courts of the State.
How would you rate the success of the Broken Window model of policing?
The State headquarters have laid emphasis on evidence-based policing and the key to such a strategy is collection of data points related to different crime sets and analysis of such data on various dimensions such as temporal and spatial analysis of crime.
To achieve the above, one of the core tasks was collection of data points, new registers and therefore various data points related to sexual offenders, persons involved in NDPS trafficking and drug related crime are being maintained and analysed on a weekly basis.
Towards “Broken Windows 2.0”, every Monday, we analyse: overall crime during the week; disaggregated crime under various heads and districts; cases decided by the courts.We did not limit our ‘broken windows’ to prevention of crime, but extended it to ‘Robust Trial Management’ to ensure speedy trials and secure convictions. The purpose was to ensure overall “rule of law”.We monitor the deposition by police officials and private witnesses in murder, POCSO cases, crime against women and drug cases. We also kept track of the pendency of cases and their progress in the courts.We conducted “root cause analysis” of the problem and have found resilient solutions. All the above steps have led to increased conviction, better rule of law and success of Broken Windows model of policing.
