Indias overworked police force will soon be able to cast its net wider, thanks to a nationwide computer network called you guessed it Polnet. To be set up exclusively for the Indian police, Polnet is likely to be the most extensive criminal data and information network of its kind in Asia, perhaps even the world!
A cabinet note for non-plan expenditure has been cleared to set up Polnet at an estimated cost of about Rs 150 crore. This will be a dedicated, satellite-based communications network for voice, data and faxes, says L C Amarnathan, the brain behind Polnet and the director of the Delhi-based National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). We will upgrade it later to run more complex applications like video-conferencing between police stations, he adds.
Polnet will be an online transaction-processing network with standard reporting and querying functions. Technically, the database is designed to be of the client-server architecture type. But actually, it is neither a fully distributed nor a totally centralised system, says Amarnathan. In fact, it is a hybrid network, with some data residing at the central hub in Delhi and the rest at district levels.
Using Polnet, data from the scene of the crime will flow directly to district headquarters. Here, servers large capacity computers will maintain databases of all crimes in the particular area. Information will be filtered at this level, with only data that is significant to the state being passed on to the servers at the state headquarters. Finally, after yet more filtration, select information, like crimes related to firearms, kidnapping or car thefts, will flow to the national-level database maintained at the NCRB centre.
Polnet will offer a secure communications channel for police personnel. All normal messaging, be it inter-district or inter-state, will go through this network now, says Amarnathan. Further, the network will be the basis of an online information system which can be accessed by all police officials.
Polnets benefits are obvious and numerous. In the short term, it will cut down on paper work. Thats a lot of paper saved, when you consider that nearly 55 lakh crimes are committed in India every day.
The network will also make it easy for the police to answer numerous public queries. The police department has to furnish answers to nearly 300 questions by MPs alone during every session of Parliament. Polnet will enable quick and accurate generation of answers to such questions.
