ICT Systems can bring Police efficiency


Few weeks ago, Transparency International a corruption watchdog headquartered in Berlin Germany through their East African counterparts named the police forces in the region as the most corrupt in the region. Outside blowing trumpet about the moral decay in law enforcement agencies in the region, Transparency International never gives the solutions to the problem. One that has come to my mind is for all enforcement agencies to develop robust systems that will facilitate access to centralized database that can help improve working process and performances of Traffic, crime busters and crime other security apparatus. Police in the East African region should develop information and communication technology system that could help eliminate their inefficiencies and performances of the police forces. Such a system can connect police stations and other security agencies units nationwide to a centralized database.Most Police units in the region enter their crime records manually that can be lost incase of fire or sabotage. A system that could connect all police stations would come in handy in the management and working system for police officers in East Africa stations helping them to gathers information in a centralized system allowing police to easily access details on criminals and related matters through an information searching system. 

In Western countries like Finland, Australia, UK, France, Germany US, Canada different security agencies have centralized system connecting all of them. Those of us who used to watch World’s Wildest Police Videos by John Bunnell at the turn of this century would recall how police officers conveniently search for and match information on crimes and criminals among the drivers driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. In Australia, crime system have an online data entry system, which has helped reduce the need for paper documents while in Canada such a system has provided plenty of digital forms from a data searching system, reporting system, statistical analysis, a warning system and data management systems similar to those used in United States.A data entry system has enabled law enforcement officers to access data digitally in real time, which since its implementation has reduced the working process by more than 90%. Data searching systems have allowed officers to connect to and access all criminal cases, in real time across all the states in United States of America. 


In New Zealand, warning systems provide urgent alerts to police and other security agents on cases where they are able to input information into the system. They will able to check information from the database in order to detect cases of criminality, while the system also provides for reminder alerts. In Germany and Denmark statistical analysis and reporting system have enabled officers to access data and analysis for monitoring and the preparation of resources, which in case of Denmark has reduced the risk inherent with supporting each case. In Italy and Spain the data management system has increased the efficiency of communication between police on patrol and police stations and the operational process of the force as a whole.Me think Police units in East Africa rolling out such systems would come in handy when police officers want to access the details of criminal records from a computer system and without the need to do so using paper documents that sometimes can disappear. It will improve the performance of the police regionally and all nooks and cranny about a crime can be wired between police stations and agents in the region.

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