facial recognition

a good article detailing why facial recognition does not work in real life

in india , though, we are yet to have a database of mugshots

Police Procurement

Why police need to strategically plan for technology procurement

Police agencies need to assess whether it makes sense to implement a new technology solution using in-house resources

Today at 2:20 AM

•  enforcement agencies are taking full advantage of existing technology to improve their administrative and tactical operations. As software and hardware systems continue to rapidly evolve, it’s important for officers and agencies to keep up with the latest solutions available to improve operations and efficiency, provide accurate and timely data and ultimately strengthen each case.

A group of U.S. law enforcement practitioners, from chiefs to IT personnel, met at the 123rd annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference to discuss how today’s technology solutions and requirements are shaping 21st century policing. This PoliceOne roundtable, sponsored by CDW-G, shed light on current issues agencies are experiencing when navigating the technology landscape.

Most police leaders realize that keeping up with the latest and greatest technology  can be difficult. From software to hardware, there are an abundance of solutions available to agencies. Although keeping up with it all can seem daunting, the wealth of options is generally a good thing for law enforcement. The plethora of technology gives agencies the opportunity to search for the best solution to meet their business requirements, demand high-quality solutions, review different solutions from multiple vendors to make an informed decision and ultimately negotiate the best price.

On the other hand, with so many options, the risk of implementation failure and financial loss remains high. In order to mitigate this risk, there was a general agreement among the PoliceOne expert roundtable participants that law enforcement agencies must be knowledgeable about what they are purchasing before making an investment.

Participants also agreed that law enforcement agencies may need to accept that they may not have the in-house expertise to take on the administrative oversight of the new solution after it’s implemented, which likely includes data storage, infrastructure and cybersecurity demands.

Due diligence in technology purchasing
It is incumbent on law enforcement agencies to perform their due diligence before any technology procurement. In some cases this is not ideal because of budget or resource constraints, but failure to do so may result in a significant financial loss or data breach without the correct resources and security requirements.

Part of the due diligence process for technology procurement includes, at a minimum, learning from other agencies that deployed the current version of the solution, conducting a needs assessment, documenting those needs, identifying and documenting agency business requirements, examining FBI CJIS requirements and reviewing state and federal legislative requirements.

For larger-scale technology projects, this process also typically includes:

•    issuing a request for information or request for qualifications 
•     inviting vendors for in-person demonstrations 
•    developing and releasing a request for proposal 
•    inviting a smaller group of vendors back for additional demonstrations and questions 
•    reviewing RFP responses 
•    selecting a vendor 
•    finalizing contract negotiations 
•    issuing an award 
•    developing test scenarios 
•    system testing 
•    allowing time for break/fix cycles 
•    developing and administering policies 
•    implementing the solution to all users 
•    delivering training 
•    administering and maintaining the technology program

Law enforcement agencies need to keep all of the above in mind and  assess whether it makes sense to implement a new solution using in-house resources. The alternative to assigning a police officer to oversee an IT implementation is to consider outsourcing this undertaking to experts who have backgrounds as IT business analysts, computer scientists or systems analysts.

During the PoliceOne roundtable, there was an overall consensus that police officers are trained and charged to be police. They are not trained to be IT business or systems analysts. This consensus emphasizes the understanding this group of law enforcement professionals has about the complexities of IT and the responsibilities that go along with overseeing IT.

Technology realities for law enforcement
Technology changes daily. This constant reality impacts law enforcement on multiple levels. Existing software an agency currently has will be updated at some point.

Software updates are often a blessing and a curse. On the positive side, law enforcement agencies now have a new version with some likely bug fixes and backend or frontend improvements. On the flipside, continual software updates may impact an agency’s CJIS requirements, legal requirements, data management, training and infrastructure.

There will always be a new solution available and a likely update or new version during its lifecycle. Given this, agencies need to be confident that the technology they are exploring and considering procuring actually meets their current and likely future business needs and requirements in order for it to be successfully implemented. This necessary burden falls on each individual law enforcement agency, but it’s a necessary reality that all agencies must plan for and factor.

21st century constraints
There are significant financial, personnel and infrastructure constraints agencies should consider when exploring a new solution. The most common financial constraint is underestimating the level of effort — personnel time — for a successful implementation. Every month an IT project is delayed, there is a cost associated with implementation, as well as the officers being unable to use the new solution to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively. Every time there is a software update needed after implementation, there is a potential cost for retraining personnel and managing unintended consequences due to the updates.

A shared personnel constraint is often the lack of in-house expertise for effectively managing a year-long or large-scale technology program implementation. Beyond daily IT project management requirements, the roundtable group also discussed the general lack of knowledge among law enforcement leaders about cybersecurity and how to prevent, respond and recover from possible cyberattacks targeting law enforcement agencies and personnel.

Law enforcement agencies realize they do not have the infrastructure to store massive amounts of data. With the emergence of video technology, from body-worn cameras to facial recognition software, the amount of data that needs to be retained based on state statute is exorbitant. During the roundtable, the group collectively expressed concerns that data management is a constant issue. Data retention schedules impact storage capacity. FOIA requests for data are on-going and growing. Data security requirements are always changing.

In addition to financial, personnel and infrastructure constraints, the law enforcement participants also highlighted that there are often legislative constraints from data retention policies to data privacy considerations. Every state has different guidelines on record retention, FOIA requests and data release. There was a consensus among the group that legislation is behind the curve and technology case law is still being established.

Today’s reality and the future 
Law enforcement agencies are making significant progress accepting the rapid advancements of technology. Today, most agencies agree that sharing law enforcement data locally, regionally, state-wide and nationally is important to combat crime. This wasn’t the case 20 years ago when every agency held data closely.

Now, we’re seeing a new paradigm shift. Law enforcement agencies are recognizing and accepting that they do not have the financial, personnel or infrastructure to keep up with technology updates and comply with legal, CJIS and cybersecurity requirements. As a result, agencies are increasingly looking to outsource several of these requirements.

Given the reality that technology will continue to evolve, new cybersecurity threats will continue to emerge and police officers are not trained to be computer scientists or IT project managers, it is time for law enforcement agencies to think and strategically plan how they will continue to advance their department to effectively manage technology in the 21st century.

About the author

Heather is the Senior Editor of PoliceOne and CorrectionsOne. She has been working with law enforcement and public safety for over 15 years. She understands that although agencies have similar operations and missions, every agency is unique when it comes to their standard operating procedures, business requirements and communities they serve.

In her spare time, she volunteers as Executive Director at the International Public Safety Association. Prior to joining Praetorian Digital, Heather worked on projects supporting several state and federal agencies. She also spent a few years working at the IACP. Heather earned her Master's degree from Arizona State University and her Bachelor's at Indiana University, both in Criminology. Heather currently calls Arizona home.

russian us cyber war..lessons for india

e basic facts about Russia’s election-year hacking of the American political system are clear. For more than a year, the Russian government has repeatedly infiltrated the computers of both parties’ presidential campaigns to steal data and emails to influence the outcome of the election. In response, the Obama administration has promised a “proportional” response against Russia.

What’s much less clear is what a “proportional” response could mean. This is an unprecedented situation for the American national security establishment — which means the Obama administration’s response will set a precedent for future foreign-directed cyber-plots.

The first thing the U.S. government will have to determine is whether the Russian actions rise to the level of an attack — something that would require a direct U.S. response. There are many examples of cyber-infiltration that fall short of that designation, qualifying rather as nuisance activities or even garden-variety espionage. The activities in question, however, cross an important political and operational threshold by attempting to influence the American public on behalf of one of the candidates for the presidency. Most egregiously, the release of internal Clinton campaign emails violates a wide variety of U.S. laws, and the potential release of material related to her email server investigation late in the campaign season could have extraordinary impact on the election.

These are actions that affect the heart of the U.S. democratic process. They may not exhibit physical damage of the sort that we saw in North Korea’sattack on Sony Pictures, which did millions of dollars of damage to hardware. But the political and symbolic meaning of Russia’s actions nonetheless elevate them to something requiring a response.

When an attack has been identified, the next step is to attribute it — to determine whom to hold responsible. U.S. intelligence officials seem to have already done this, at least to the satisfaction of the White House. But it’s worth remembering that attribution is especially challenging in the world of cyber-conflict. The Russians have managed to cling to a veneer of deniability, at least in public, by relying on a clever pattern of cut-out agents, ranging from Russian cyber-criminals to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. This is a version of the hybrid warfare we’ve seen used so effectively in the attacks in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea — essentially using the cyber-equivalent of the unmarked soldiers (so-called little green men) that led the fight into Ukraine.

After attribution, the final step is to craft a response. The cybersphere is not immune to the universal legal norms that require a nation to respond to an attack in proportional fashion. In other words, you can’t destroy the Russian electric grid in response to email hacks. From a strategic perspective, the response should also be timely (although at a time and place of the responder’s choice) and distinctive — that is, it should bear a clear and specific relationship to the original attack that is recognizable to all.

With all this in mind, there are a variety of responses that the Obama administration should be considering against Russia.

The first response should be a definitive exposure of the Russian government’s presumably high-level involvement in the attacks. 

The U.S. case against Russia may be convincing, but the White House has chosen so far to keep parts of it classified.

The U.S. case against Russia may be convincing, but the White House has chosen so far to keep parts of it classified.Revealing the names of the officials who authorized the cyberattacks against the United States would put Moscow in an extremely uncomfortable position. Ideally, the United States could reveal emails or conversations between Russian officials that demonstrated their intent to undermine the U.S. electoral process. Such revelations would likely lead to U.N. condemnations and further economic sanctions against Russia, inflicting additional damage to its economy. They would also potentially expose U.S. intelligence sources and methods, but there are ways to sanitize the material to minimize those risks.

Second, the United States could undermine the Russian government’s reliance on a wide variety of cyber-tools to censor the web within its own country by exposing them to the public. While not actively manipulating the Russian web, the National Security Agency could “out” the code and tool sets used by the Kremlin, thus permitting activists (and citizens) to avoid the manipulation and censorship more effectively. As a response to the Russian attacks on the U.S. democratic system, this would be both proportional and distinctive.

A third and more aggressive approach would be to use U.S. cyber-capabilities to expose the overseas banking accounts and financial resources of high-level Russian government officials, up to and including President Vladimir Putin, who is widely rumored to hold billions of dollars in offshore accounts shielded from his public. While Washington should refrain from destroying or manipulating financial records, which would be an escalation, simply exposing the level of corruption among the officials who authorized the political cyberattacks in the United States would be strategically and morally sound.

Fourth, the United States could use its own offensive cyber-tools to punish Russian hackers by knocking them off-line or even damaging their hardware. This response would be open to objections that it represents an unwarranted escalation. But under prevailing international law, if a nation has information of a nexus of offensive activity, has requested it to stop, and the offending nation declines to do so, that offensive center is liable for attack. The burden of proof for attribution would be higher in crafting such a response; it would be viable only if Washington had definitive information on the command and control centers that launched the hacking activity. But given the brazen level of Russian activity, this at least warrants a serious discussion by the U.S. government.

Fifth, and finally, the United States should think about how our allies can be helpful in this situation. NATO partners have significant capability and could be helpful in much of this. 

All democratic nations have a stake in pushing back against this blatant interference in the democratic political process.

All democratic nations have a stake in pushing back against this blatant interference in the democratic political process.

All of this should be done in a very careful, measured fashion. The potential for miscalculation and escalation is high. But that potential pertains both to a possible overreaction as well as an under-reaction by the U.S. government. The president and his senior national security and economic teams will have to seriously (but, hopefully, swiftly) deliberate on a course of action. And the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command should prepare to carry out whatever actions they settle on. (Whatever else happens, these events have already proved why it’s to everyone’s benefit that Cyber Command will soon be elevated by the military to the status of a full combatant command.)

An old Russian saying is: “Probe with bayonets. If you encounter steel, withdraw. If you encounter mush, continue.” The bayonets of today are the bits of the cybersphere. The United States needs to show some steel or face much worse to come.

geo tagging of 1`2 lakh locations

Lucknow, Sep 26 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Police is set to become the most tech-savvy force in the country with completion of "geo tagging" of about 12 lakh locations that would help it "timely" locate victims dialling 100 for help.

"Through UP-100 GIS (Global Information System) application, we have succeeded in geo tagging about 12 lakh locations in the state.

"This will help police locate victims calling Dial 100 as when they call their location will pop up in the monitor screen of the control room and they will be able to get timely help," Additional Director General (ADG), Traffic, Anil Agarwal told PTI.

"With the exercise, the state police has collected massive data of locations of rural areas that even Google did not have. Over 60 categories of locations that we have geo-tagged included temples, mosques, liquor shops, schools, crossing etc." he said.

Asked about the GIS app, Agarwal said that this was developed exclusively for police department officers, who were selected from all eight zones at police station level to collect the data and geo-tag important locations.

"Once the location is selected by an officer and uploaded on the app, it was verified at district level before being approved. We have targeted at least five important points of a police station", he said, adding that over 13,500 policemen were involved in the exercise.

"This data will be available with the police and it will not be shared with anyone", he said.

pava shells in kashmir

earlier articles on this topic here & here

new shells seem to be less effective


An expert panel was constituted by the Union home ministry to find an alternative to pellet guns for crowd control following an uproar in Kashmir after its usage led to fatalities.


The panel had zeroed in on 'PAVA shells' which were considered "less lethal" and were capable of "immobilising the target temporarily".

Top Comment

Our forces are being RIDICULOUS ...
When Imprisonment, BOMBS etc DONT DETER these muslims ... we are considering some Chilly powder ??? .......
They are driven by a cult called islam ... isl... Read MoreTruth Brahmandam

'PAVA' stands for Pelargonic Acid Vanillylamide, also called Nonivamide, and is an organic compound found in natural chilli pepper.

On the Scoville scale (to measure the power of chilli), PAVA is categorised as "above peak", meaning it will "severely irritate and paralyse" humans, but the irritation and paralysis will remain "temporary" in nature. It is also used as a food additive to add pungency, flavouring and the spicy effect to eatables.

cctns - will it fulfill the mandate

its main aim was to track criminals - nothing being done in that direction
track crime - only fir being registered

केन्‍द्रीय गृह मंत्री ने सीसीटीएनएस और राष्‍ट्रीय आपात कार्रवाई प्रणाली की समीक्षा की

केन्‍द्रीय गृह मंत्री श्री राजनाथ सिंह ने कल यहां अपराध और आपराधिक ट्रैकिंग नेटवर्क एंड सिस्‍टम्‍स (सीसीटीएनएस) और राष्‍ट्रीय आपात कार्रवाई प्रणाली (एनईआरएस) नाम की दो परियोजनाओं की समीक्षा की।

सीसीटीएनएस 2000 करोड़ रुपये की लागत से शतप्रतिशत केन्‍द्र द्वारा वित्‍तपोषित परियोजना है। इसका उद्देश्‍य अपराध और आपराधिक रिकॉर्डों का एक अखिल भारतीय राष्‍ट्रीय डेटाबेस आधारित सर्च प्रणाली कायम करना है। इसमें आपराधिक न्‍याय प्रणाली के सभी स्‍तम्‍भों जैसे पुलिस, अदालतों, कारागारों, फिंगरप्रिंट्स, फारेंसिक्‍स एवं प्रोसिक्‍यूशन को एकीकृत करने का प्रयास किया जायेगा ताकि विवेकपूर्ण निर्णय किए जा सकें।

गृह मंत्री को इस बात से अवगत कराया गया कि सीसीटीएनएस प्रणाली का उपयोग करते हुए 85 प्रतिशत कम्‍प्‍यूटरीकरण किया जा चुका है और 93 लाख एफआईआर दर्ज की जा चुकी हैं। 32 राज्‍य और संघशासित प्रदेश नेशनल डेटा सेंटर (एनडीसी) के साथ आंकड़ें साझा कर रहे हैं। यह भी बताया गया कि गृह मंत्रालय शेष 4 राज्‍यों/संघशासित प्रदेशों को भी इस प्रणाली से जोड़ने के लिए प्रक्रियागत तेजी लाने के प्रयास कर रहा है। गृह मंत्री ने निर्देश दिया कि इस परियोजना के मार्ग में आने वाली चुनौतियों को पूरा किया जाये ताकि इसे तेजी से लागू किया जा सके। श्री राजनाथ सिंह ने लम्‍बे समय से बकाया नेशनल डेटा सेंटर की स्‍थापना की मांग पूरी होने पर संतोष व्‍यक्‍त किया।

गृह मंत्री ने एनईआरएस परियोजना की स्थिति की समीक्षा की, जिसका लक्ष्‍य अखिल भारतीय स्‍तर पर एकल आपात नम्‍बर 112 रोलिंग आउट करना है, जिसका इस्‍तेमाल देश भर में सभी प्रकार की संकटपूर्ण एवं आपात स्थितियों में किया जा सके। गृह मंत्रालय इस काम में राज्‍य और संघशासित प्रदेशों की सरकारों के प्रयासों में अनुपूरक भूमिका निभा रहा है। प्रथम चरण में सात राज्‍यों/संघ शासित प्रदेशों को तथा परवर्ती चरण में समूचे राष्‍ट्र को इस परियोजना का हिस्‍सा बनाया जायेगा। दोनों चरण 2017 तक पूरे कर लिए जाने की उम्‍मीद है।

आरएसबी/सीसी-4096

where children are abused most in india?

this article from indian express tries to pick some insight from NCRB data, but what is missing is granular research like - gender profiling of kids, which industry register more cases & geographical spread, at what time in day abuse happened, & after how many days abuse was reported

INDICATING the extent of exploitation involved in child labour, latest government statistics show that over 25 per cent of rapes on children last year were committed by their employers and co-workers.

According to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2015, 8,800 cases of rape on children were registered across the country under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). In 2,227 cases, or 25.3 per cent, the offenders were found to be employers or co-workers.

This is the first time that NCRB has tabulated data in terms of the relationship of the victim and the accused in cases involving rape. The data also shows that less than two per cent of rapes committed on women in 2015 happened at the workplace.

×

In the case of children, the data reveals:

# Neighbours were the biggest abusers in such cases in 2015 — 3,149 (35.8%).

# In over 10 per cent of cases last year, children were subjected to rape by their own family members or relatives.

# In 94.8 per cent of cases, children were subjected to rape by someone known to them.

# 14,913 cases were registered under POCSO in 2015.

Amod Kanth, former police officer and founder of Prayas, an NGO that works for the protection of children, called the data “alarming” but “not surprising”. “Children are more vulnerable at the workplace, compared to women. Children work under elders who are in complete command of the work environment. They also work in homes or in closed environments as full-time help. There is no escape and chances of exploitation are high,” he said.

Kanth said that in such cases, boys are as frequently abused as girls. “When we conducted a national study on child abuse in 2007, along with the Ministry of Women and Child Development, we found that there were as many male victims of child abuse as female,” he said.

A similar set of data on women in 2015, compiled by the NCRB, shows that they were most vulnerable to assault by neighbours and those promising marriage.

# In 27.4 per cent of rape cases, the offenders were neighbours.

# In 22 per cent of cases, the offenders promised to marry the women but did not.

# In nine per cent of cases, women were subjected to rape by close family members and relatives.

# In 95.5 per cent of rape cases, the offenders were known to the women.

According to the NCRB data, 34,651 rape cases were registered across the country in 2015. In 488 cases, the victim was raped by her grandfather, father, brother or son. Close family members were the offenders in 891 cases and relatives in 1,788 cases.

As many as 557 women were subjected to rape at the hands of their employers or co-workers. In 705 cases, victims accused their live-in partners or former separated husbands of having raped them, the data shows.

Last year also witnessed an overall dip in crime against women and an increase in the case of children. There were 3,27,394 cases registered under crimes against women as compared to 3,37,922 cases in 2014, a dip of 3.1 per cent. But crime against children spiked by 5.3 per cent, from 89,423 in 2014 to 94,172 in 2015. Kidnapping and abduction constituted 44.5 per cent of crimes against children last year.

The high rate of crime, however, does not necessarily show a deteriorating law-and-order situation but may be the result of police registering more cases.

In a state-wise break-up, Tamil Nadu (55 per cent) and Gujarat (over 49 per cent) had the most number of cases of sexual abuse against children at the workplace.

The data also shows law enforcers in poor light. In 2015, only 251 cases of child labour were registered across the country in which 449 children were rescued.

The data on overall crime against women shows Delhi at the top with 17,104 cases, and a crime rate of 184.3, and Assam with 23,258 cases and a rate of 148.2. Crime rate refers to the number of incidents per one lakh population of the subject group.

In the case of children, too, Delhi leads the way with 9,489 cases and a crime rate of 169.4. Among larger states, Madhya Pradesh comes close with 12,859 cases and a rate of 42.8

Radicalisation of Muslim youth in india

The issue of the radicalisation of Indian Muslims is one that has been gaining momentum for a while now. While some continue to swim in the 'this only happens in other country' sea of denial, others are beginning to grasp the gravity of the situation and suggesting ways to counter it. In an exclusive four-part series on radicalisation in India, Tufail Ahmad examines a variety of conditions and scenarios that have made it possible to radicalise youths in Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Kerala and indeed, India as a whole. The first part of the series follows:

From early 2014 through this year, the radicalisation of Indian Muslims in favour of the Islamic State (or IS) has not ceased, although intelligence agencies have succeeded in preventing dozens of youths from leaving India to join the jihadi group. A review of media reports over the past three years indicates that the number of affected youths — ie those who left for Syria, others who were stopped from leaving India and counselled, and those under surveillance — is around 350. This figure is on the lower side, but does not take into account the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Radicalisation is the process of directly and indirectly motivating Muslims to participate in jihadi terror, based on religious teachings and grievance-nurturing by Islamic preachers, the Urdu press and other Islamic media. Radicalisation has always existed in India leading to bomb blasts on many occasions, but that it could pose a serious challenge to the security of India was realised first in mid-2014 when four youths left Mumbai for Iraq and Syria — one of them, Areeb Majeed, returned later from Turkey, where he had ended up for medical treatment after being wounded in Syria.

Political correctness forces analysts not to see the ideological nature of the jihadi terror. A usual shortcut is to blame the internet for radicalisation. This is contrary to evidence. In the 20th Century when there was no internet, the streets of Lahore looked much like the streets of Paris today. In December 1926, Swami Shraddhanand was killed by Abdur Rasheed, perhaps the first lone-wolf jihadi, for publishing Satyarth Prakash, a book critical of Prophet Muhammad. In 1929, Rajpal of the Rajpal Publisher of Lahore, was killed, much like the editors of Charlie Hebdo magazine and exactly for the same theological reason, by Ghazi Ilmuddin for publishing the book. The Islamist poet Muhammad Iqbal praised him. Hyderabadi leader Asaduddin Owaisi is not the first Muslim leader to offer legal aid to IS suspects. Ilmuddin's case was defended in court by MA Jinnah.From then till now, around a dozen states have witnessed incidents of radicalisation including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Assam, Punjab (for pro-Khalistan radicalisation), Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. In the run-up to Republic Day this year, at least 14 suspects were arrested. In June, five youths were arrested in Hyderabad, leading to two more arrests in July. Around two dozen youths, who were known to each other, left Kerala in early July for Syria. In the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, four youths were arrested in July. The argument here is this: Radicalisation in India has not ceased since 2014, leaving no room for complacency.

In modern times, Sufism, supported by the Barelvi school of Sunni Islam, is presented as peaceful. In 1936, Murid Hussain, a Sufi from Chakwal in the present-day Pakistan, went on to kill Dr Ram Gopal after he was visited by Prophet Muhammad in dream. The alleged reason for killing was that an animal was named by Gopal after the prophet. Major Nidal Hasan, who shot dead his colleagues at Fort Hood in Texas in 2009, is not the first Muslim soldier to be radicalised. In 1937, Miyan Muhammad of the Indian Army shot dead a Hindu soldier in Karachi. In 1942, Babu Merajuddin killed his Sikh officer Major Hardyal Singh allegedly for questioning the sacrifice of animals on Eid-al-Azha, the feast of sacrifice. Guantanamo Bay is also not the first offshore prison for jihadis. Lone-wolf attackers were sent by British officers to Andaman Islands.

While the Mumbai's four had left India before Abu Bakr Al-Baghadi declared himself on June 30, 2014 as the caliph of all Muslims, soon his call for all Muslims to performHijrah (migration) to the IS in the Iraq-Syria region caught the imagination of youths.Hijrah marks the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina where a large number of people had converted to Islam. It has special connotation in the minds of Muslims. In India, the pattern of Hijrah over the past three years showed two trends: One, Indian Muslim youths based in London, Qatar, the UAE, Afghanista-Pakistan region, Singapore and Australia travelled directly to Syria to join the ISIS; two, some youths left directly from India for Afghanistan, Iran and some West Asian capitals to join the IS or were prevented from boarding flights at Nagpur and Hyderabad, or stopped in Kolkata.

In July 2015, a note prepared by the Home Ministry noted: "As per available intelligence inputs, very few number of Indian youth(s) have joined ISIS after travelling to Iraq and Syria. Further, intelligence/security agencies have foiled the plan of some youth(s) to travel to Iraq/Syria who are under counselling and monitoring at present. A certain number of IS sympathisers are also under surveillance by security agencies."

A report dated 28 September, 2015, published by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies, put the number of those under surveillance at 250. As of last July, it appears that the number of Muslim youths arrested over the past three years in different states of India for pro-IS radicalisation is at least 60. Reports in the press indicate that at least 30 Muslims from India could be present in Syria with IS and there are some Indians based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. While the fundamental reasons for radicalisation and justifications for jihad are rooted in Islamic teachings, glorification of Islamic history and grievance mongering, one must bear in mind that the jihadi threat to India emanates also from the rise of jihadi movements in West Asia and the inability of the big powers to stabilise the situation.

Unless that happens, security agencies in India will need to remain alert

Taser & Indian Police

The Delhi Police, often accused of using excessive force, are introducing Taser guns and other non-lethal arms that will allow them to work without endangering lives, sources said.

The city police were in the process of procuring Taser guns that would help them nab suspects by incapacitating them, or stunning them, temporarily by administering electric shock, sources said.

“When fired, this non-lethal weapon releases electro-magnetic pulse that will paralyze the central nervous system of the suspect, leaving the person in a foetal position on the ground for almost 15 seconds,” Rajesh Malik, special commissioner of police (provision and logistics), said.

The first lot of five Tasers -- Taser X2 priced at Rs 1 lakh each -- is expected Tuesday from the US-based manufacturer, making the Delhi Police the first law enforcement agency in the country to use non-lethal weapons.

The force’s special cell came under fire when Manoj Vashisht, an alleged conman wanted in several cases of cheating, was killed during an alleged gunfight at a city restaurant.

Senior police officials felt Vashisht could have been caught alive had the police managed to incapacitate him, sources said. It was then they decided to get Taser-like conducted electrical weapons.

To begin with, Tasers would be used during VIP security, chasing a suspect after dark or vehicle-checks in the night.

Taser X2 fires two small darts attached with copper wires to deliver electric current that pierces through the clothes of a target, creating neuromuscular incapacitation of the body, Malik said. The “target” returns to normal after 15 to 20 seconds, enough time for the police to act.

It comes with two laser lights, indicating where the darts will hit and a video camera that starts recording as soon as the trigger is touched.

Experts from Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser International, which manufactures and sells conducted electrical weapons, will hold a week-long training programme in Delhi. The force planned to buy at least 100 Tasers and could increase the numbers after gauging the performance, sources said.

Bean bag rounds, or flexible baton rounds, could be the next addition to non-lethal munitions. These rounds -- lead shots embedded in fabric -- are propelled by a shotgun and cause minimum long-term trauma without penetration. They cause a muscle spasm and make a suspect immobile for a short period.

Tasers are used worldwide and considered a safe option but there have been injury concerns. Tasers can harm elderly and children and even cause death especially of those with a heart condition or other health concerns.

Pellet guns & Kashmir

Prakash Katoch  Jul 25, 2016 16:05 IST

#InMyOpinion   #Jammu and Kashmir   #Kashmir killings   #Mehbooba Mufti   #Pakistan   #pellet guns   #proxy war   #Rajnath Singh   #sushma swaraj  

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The use of pellet guns in Kashmir Valley is in the news. The issue also came up in Parliament. Conflicting new coverage often makes it difficult to interpret the ground truth. The confusion is compounded when a former Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security (now a Rajya Sabha MP) tells a TV channel that Army is using pellets larger than those authorised in Jammu and Kashmir. One can only pity his knowledge for not knowing Army never uses pellet guns; Army uses real bullets and fires for effect when required.

Pellet guns were introduced into the Jammu and Kashmir Police in 2010 during theOmar Abdullah government. There must have been trials and approval by the state government before the Jammu and Kashmir Police got them. If anyone thinks non-lethal weapons have no effect on the body, they are misinformed. Try rubber bullets which have much greater impact. Play with paint guns available at numerous play ranges, even their impact on bare body parts is hard and numbing. Yes, pellets penetrate soft tissue of the skin, but police in the Valley certainly did not use them for the first time after the Burhan Wani killing. The PDP, when in opposition, had protested against the use of pellet guns but used them anyway after coming to power, obviously with good reason. A senior police officer recently told Reuters that security forces are forced to use pellet guns at close range to protect themselves against mob attacks. If some 280 mobsters have suffered pellet injuries in the Valley, more than 2,200 security personnel have suffered injuries on duty on account of stone pelting – many ending up getting stitches on their face.

A file image of a police personnel injured during clashes with mob in Srinagar. Reuters

In just two weeks, security personnel faced more than 600 attacks in the Valley; attacks on police stations, police posts, camps and bunkers. Approximately 70 arms were looted from a police station. If the police would have actually used pellet guns as freely as alleged then the injury ratio would have been in reverse. Imagine a mob of 500 to 1,000 attacking 20-30 security personnel – shouldn’t they fire their pellet guns? Or, should they instead fire live ammunition or alternatively surrender their arms to the mob and submit to being lynched? Why would Jammu and Kashmir Police needlessly fire pellets on Kashmiris?

There is talk that the pellets currently in use are larger. If that is true then it is the PDP government in the Valley which should be providing the answers – source of the cartridges; are the pellets really larger, and if so, on whose orders? On face value this may just be part of the sensationalising because the media has not reported on these issues by design or default – not even the source from where police obtains these pellet guns and cartridges. The number of occasions on which police have fired pellet guns this time has been more because the mobs attacking them were bigger and number of attacks were more. The frenzied mob were supported full hilt by Pakistan's psychological warfare, propaganda and radicalisation. The propaganda includes photo of a boy hit in the eyes by pellets in an incident in Gaza during 2015 – being bandied as a casualty in the Valley. Pakistan's intimate involvement in the current violence in Jammu and Kashmir has already been commented upon by the External Affairs Minister, Union Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre has appointed a committee to look for an alternative non-lethal weapon which is to submit recommendations in two months time. Details of variety of crowd control equipment are available on the net from various types of non-lethal weapons, gasses, sprays and the likes. Since 2008, Israelis have been using ‘Skunk’ for crowd control – spray from a water cannon, which leaves the odor of rotten sewages wherever it falls. A veteran suggests we use water cannon with indelible ink that would mark the terrorists and the mob supporting their attack.

Whatever alternatives we choose, it would be naïve to do away with pellet guns completely unless we want the police to fire live ammunition in desperation to save themselves.
Pakistan has succeeded, to some extent, in replacing the Sufi culture of Kashmir with Wahabism in Kashmir Valley. The country has succeeded in enlarging the insurgency and would like mob attacks to continue. While we dither over our police using pellet guns, Pakistan is one up with stone-pelters now also throwing acid bottles at security forces. We need not ditto how China, Pakistan and Sri Lanka deal with insurgents, but we should certainly draw lessons.

Fixing Mumbai Police

By retired IPS Shri Balchandran

On August 9, 2012, the murder of Pallavi Purkayastha, a young lawyer, at her flat in Wadala, shook up the city.

The Mumbai Crime Branch, which was investigating the case, quickly zeroed in on Sajjad Ahmed Pathan, a security guard at Ms. Purkayastha’s building, who went missing after his shift that day. Within 24 hours of the incident, Pathan was arrested at Mumbai Central Station just as he was about to flee to his home State, Jammu and Kashmir. The Crime Branch followed up the arrest with a thorough investigation, and built a watertight case. On October 30, 2012, it filed a 434-page charge-sheet citing 40 witnesses. The Sessions Court judge found Pathan guilty on June 30, 2014, and sentenced him to a life term for trespass, molestation and murder.

A few months ago, all this effort went down the drain.

The administration at Nashik Road jail, where Pathan was imprisoned, submitted papers for granting him parole, bypassing the Mumbai Crime Branch. This is not necessarily the fault of the jail administration; perhaps the rules for parole are equally to blame. Had there been a process in place, the Jail & Revenue administration would have consulted the investigating officer, particularly since the Maharashtra government’s appeal for enhancing Pathan’s punishment is pending with the High Court. The result: the accused, who should have been back in jail in May, has disappeared.

This was a case that got a lot of visibility, but it’s the story of most investigations in the city and the country today.

While the police have a major role to play in the justice delivery system — registering and investigating offences — their efforts are easily being negated by factors beyond their control: the prosecution machinery and prison system. Incompetent forensic analyses by government-run laboratories, which are not controlled by the police, could also hamper investigations. A 2013 report said rape cases, which are increasing every year, and where testing of genetic materials is crucial, are in danger of ending in acquittals due to the serious shortage of DNA experts in our forensic laboratories.

Too wide a charter

The Customs Department is charged only with detection and prevention of duty evasion and smuggling. The Enforcement Directorate is assigned only the duty of currency regulations. The Food & Drug administration only investigates breaches of health regulations in making or selling drugs. All these important functionaries do not have to perform other duties.

Compare this with the ever-widening charter of police duties.

Aside from investigating crimes, it must also prioritise maintaining law and order, which includes regulating traffic, collecting fines, issuing licences, locating missing persons, impounding stray cattle, killing stray dogs, disposing of unclaimed dead bodies, preventing “public nuisance”, committing wandering mentally ill patients to mental asylums, working as police orderlies, collecting political intelligence, protecting vital installations like offices, factories, bridges or water storage areas, escorting prisoners, undertaking counter-insurgency operations.

Add to that protecting important persons and VIPs, both those resident within their jurisdiction and visitors, and interface with citizens.

During our investigation into the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the then Joint Commissioner (Law & Order) who was in charge of police stations in Mumbai, told us that out of 40,000-odd policepersons, over 16,000 were

made to report for ‘special duties’ like security, traffic, special branches and so on. This left only 24,000 to perform regular police station duties. And since they worked in two shifts, only 12,000 of them were available for crime and law-and-order duties. On any given day, nearly 2,000 men were on their weekly offs, had reported sick, or were on leave.

That left only about 100 policemen per police station to staff four mobile units, four motorcycles (Beat Marshals), and fixed-point duties after every major incident, besides public relations duties like monitoring mohalla committees and citizens’ groups. “Because of this,” he had said, “no worthwhile investigation work is done at police stations.”

Is it any wonder that sustained investigation is often a casualty?

Archaic laws and systems

Much of the way our police machinery functions today dates back to British rule, and little attempt has been made to change that.

The basic charter of the classical police system, as conceived by Sir Robert Peel in 1829, was the prevention and investigation of crime, and maintenance of order. However in India, both colonial rulers and princely states entrusted various other responsibilities to them, as they did not have any other enforcement machinery.

Under the 1861 Police Act, 22 municipal responsibilities were imposed on the police, including cattle impounding, killing of stray dogs and detection of street dirtying. Another 14 additional responsibilities were imposed by the Bombay Police Act 1951, which included tackling infectious diseases and offensive odours. As our democracy widened its reach, hundreds of new laws were passed to penalise activities detrimental to social equality, health or clean business practices.

A publication titled, Criminal Minor Acts (136 important Acts with comments), lists the Central laws under which the police have to render services in one form or another, ranging from the Actuaries Act to the Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act. Similarly, the Bombay High Court website lists 453 laws in Maharashtra, from the Abolition of Whipping Act to Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samities Act, under which most cases involve police intervention. Interestingly, the Bombay District Police Act, 1867, which is still on the High Court list, lays down regulations on several municipal functions including “removal of prickly pear or other nuisance” from wastelands

In most other countries, these municipal or social reform and social protection functions (or ‘Minor Acts’) have special enforcement machineries set up under different departments. But in India, all these functions are entrusted to the State police for enforcement, on the grounds that investigations should be done by them.

The character of investigation too has changed over the years. Earlier, only Indian Penal Code cases were given importance. By the end of the 20th century, more importance was given to special and State laws on social protection issues like prevention of caste bias, ensuring gender justice, dowry prevention, senior citizens’ welfare, children’s welfare and protection of minors against exploitation. These are much more important to the media or even common citizens than robbery or even murder, which directly affect relatively fewer people, so the police have to spend more hours on such cases. Things have reached such a state that the police, under pressure from the media, social reformists, or business lobbies, have started prioritising these matters over basic criminal investigation. Terrorism, of course, has added to their burden.

Supreme Court intervention

In 1996, two retired senior police officers moved the Supreme Court (in the Prakash Singh case) to direct States to give professional autonomy to the police. In 2006, the court issued directives to the States and the Centre, which were to have been complied with by 2007.

However, seeing the tardy compliance by State governments, the Supreme Court set up a three-member monitoring committee, under Justice K.T. Thomas in 2008, to report the States’ progress towards reforms. Based on their report, the Supreme Court issued notices on November 8, 2010, to the errant States of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka, asking their Chief Secretaries to state why the directives were not implemented. A Supreme Court Bench, which assessed the progress, ordered on July 16, 2014, that crime investigation and law and order (L&O) should be separated and that the High Courts would monitor the progress.

The remedies

Fixing the police system to improve investigation is not easy. It needs the cooperation of all 29 States. But Maharashtra, and thus Mumbai, can begin the process in these areas.

Separate crime investigation & L&O

The only States that have attempted this are Kerala and Punjab. In March 2015, Punjab claimed to have become the first state to totally separate investigation functions from L&O by creating a State-level Bureau of Investigation.

Create a municipal police

On May 21, 2013, the Ministry of Home Affairs suggested that the States set up municipal police forces in cities with a population of more than 1 million, as recommended by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission. These forces would implement all municipal laws, including traffic management. A separate municipal police with legal powers would be able to perform all municipal enforcement functions, leaving the police to concentrate on crime investigation.

Similarly, the Sales Tax Commissioner, Food & Drugs Commissioner, State Lok Ayukta, and other such authorities who are expected to do enforcement and vigilance work, should be provided with investigating and prosecuting staff so the local police are not burdened with such cases.

Re-assign social protection

As is practiced in other countries, certain special welfare laws should be entrusted to special police officers who are specifically designated under regulatory organisations like the Minorities Commission, Women’s Commission, Children’s Commission and Senior Citizens’ Commission. As of now, some of these commissions in India have civil court status; they should be empowered to hear criminal cases too, and have their own investigating agencies.

Stop escorting prisoners to court

This is a waste of scarce police strength. In Singapore, prisoner escort is done by the Auxiliary Police, who are empowered under their Police Force Act 2004. In India, too, this should be the responsibility of legally empowered, trained and armed prison guards.

Let others guard ministers’ bungalows and VIPs

This should be taken over by the trained personnel of the Maharashtra Security Force, which was created after 26/11. This will set hundreds of policemen free for policing duties.

Empower the Railway Protection Force

The policing of 9,000 trains, which carry 3 crore passengers every day on 65,000 km of tracks around India, is currently the legal responsibility of all 29 States, because of the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule on the Centre-State distribution of subjects. As a result of this outlandish provision, passengers are tossed around between police stations of different States when they want to lodge complaints.

Contrast this with what other countries do. The British Transport Police has sole responsibility for policing 16,093 km of railway tracks and 3,000 stations, besides investigating all railway crimes, except in Northern Ireland. China, which has the third-biggest railway network in the world, has a Ministry of Railway Police for the entire network; unlike in India, this has facilitated passenger convenience. Similarly, Pakistan has merged their state-based railway police with their Railway Police Force, creating the Pakistan Railway Police under the Ministry of Railways for the protection of all their railway tracks. This is working well.