POLICE, POLICING AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGY: A STUDY OF KOLKATA POLICE

Transcription

1 POLICE, POLICING AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGY: A STUDY OF KOLKATA POLICE Thesis submitted to Jadavpur University for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Sociology By ARPITA MITRA Department of Sociology Jadavpur University Kolkata West Bengal 2011

2 POLICE, POLICING AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGY: A STUDY OF KOLKATA POLICE Synopsis Thesis submitted to Jadavpur University for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Sociology By ARPITA MITRA Department of Sociology Jadavpur University Kolkata West Bengal 2011

3 Introduction This study endeavours to fill in a void in sociological researches in India on police and policing in general and police, policing and new technology in particular. The available literature on police and policing has brought to light the dismal record of the performance of the police force completely neglecting the dimensions of policing in India. Moreover, none of them to the best of my knowledge has sought to analyze how far new technologies/information and Communication technologies/icts are utilized to make police more efficient and people-friendly and policing more updated and problem oriented. In this era of terrorism and rising e-crimes, this neglect of the role of ICTs on police and policing in India is surely an indicator of an absence of well thought out policies on the part of the state apparatus. There is also a scholarly apathy to understand and analyze the role of police and the process of policing in the rapidly emerging knowledge society of India. Police is a particular kind of institution which is entrusted to establish social order. Policing implies a set of processes with specific social functions. Police is not found in every society, but policing is arguably a universal requirement of any social order, which may be carried out by a variety of different processes and institutional arrangements. ICTs are the converging set of technologies in micro-electronics, computing (machines and software), telecommunications /broadcasting and opto-electronics which also includes genetic engineering and its expanding set of developments and applications. ICTs can improve performance at work and can bring about greater transparency and accountability. Apart from the possible misuses which lead to a newer dimension of crime - cybercrime, ICTs have the potential to create a two-tier society of information haves and information have-nots where only a part of the population have access to the ICTs and can use it. In India, outdated laws and regulations and weak enforcement agencies have caused the rise in the rate of cyber crimes The police in India is still carrying the legacy of the colonial rule in its structure, duties, work culture and expectations. Failure of basic institutions, increase in population, lack of social control, lack of development, lack of improper and inadequate diffusion of welfare activities have created an environment where political parties use the police to control the underprivileged and to suppress their protests when they want to air their grievances. Moreover the Indian Police has to perform a wide array of tasks ranging from traffic management to maintaining decorum during festivities to several authentication services (passport verification) Hence the use of modern gadgets especially computers is a 1

4 must. There is not a single police station in India that is completely computerized and even today almost all data management in the police organizations is manual. It has to be realized that automated records and advanced communications are not a luxury but a necessity for the police. Policing in the country cannot improve unless modern technology is introduced in the organizations. Various State Governments in India have realized the urgency and the need to involve the policy agencies and the local communities in one single communication mode to deal with social crimes and anti-social elements. Almost all state police departments have their own police websites providing online facilitation mechanisms to deal with law and order issues. States from Assam to Kerala have introduced such ICT measures, though with differential impact and usefulness. Such interventions indeed reflect on the modernization trend in our police systems wherein the use of ICTs for community policing is being projected with the vital aim of ensuring peace, protection and systematic social environment at the community level for overall holistic community development. The Delhi Police, Mumbai Police, Andhra Pradesh Police and Rajasthan Police are taking path breaking steps to make their forces hightech and modernised. Against the background, the present study has the objective of studying the interrelationship between ICTs on the one hand and the Kolkata Police on the other. It attempts to explore to what extent the increasing implementation of the ICTs in the Kolkata Police transforming the ways it traditionally used to perform its routine tasks or operational policing, viz. general duties, traffic, criminal investigation. The study seeks to assess the impact of Information and Communication Technologies/ICTs on police hierarchy and, hence, on police practices especially at supervisory and managerial levels and to evaluate the technical and practical barriers to the usage and implementation of the ICTs. Moreover it appraises the awareness level of the police in relation to ICTs and new methods of policing. Lastly the study explores the perception of the police on whether community policing can be introduced and can benefit with the introduction of the ICTs. Methodological orientation The objective of the present research can be best achieved by utilizing multi method approach which accepts the fact that no method measures perfectly and to exploit the fact that multiple measurements offer the chance to assess each methods validity in the light of other methods. Multi method has been used in all stages of research that is not only in the 2

5 collection of data but also in the interpretation and analysis of relevant data. Both qualitative and quantitative measures have been used to interpret the data. Brief narratives of police officers have been used to address different issues in their words. Observation of non verbal attributes like gestures have also been used during interpretation of data. The study is exploratory in nature as the aim is to look for patterns and ideas rather than testing or confirming a hypothesis. The present study is based on both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through face to face interview of the respondents. Interview schedule have been used to collect relevant information during in-depth interview of the respondents. Secondary data was collected through a review of relevant documents and archival resources. The Kolkata Police website along with several reports published by the Kolkata Police like Annual Reports on Traffic also yielded necessary information. Other Internet sources also provided relevant information about the problem. In selecting the respondents the main concern was that the respondents should have access to ICTs. Therefore non probability purposive sampling was used to collect relevant data. A sample of 51 officers were interviewed, all of whom had access to new technologies. The officers interviewed were both IPS and non-ips officers. Snowballing was also used to get access to other officers of the same rank. IPS officers, especially Additional Commissioners of Police, referred names of other departments and police personnel who would meet the needs of the study. Again, twelve local police stations were sampled out of a total of forty-eight under the Kolkata police jurisdiction hence it was representative of the total population. Purposive sampling was used in this regard whereby from each of the divisions the police stations were selected. Each of the police stations was selected for their uniqueness in terms of the nature of the locality as well as the diversity of social groups of people inhabiting there. These twelve police stations were sampled because they portray the diversity and multicultural nature of the city of Kolkata. The area under the Kolkata Police jurisdiction comprises the field of the study. The Kolkata Police operates from its headquarters at Lalbazaar in the city of Kolkata. The Kolkata Police personnel comprise the units of analysis. A total of fifty one, six of whom were women police personnel, have been interviewed. Sixteen IPS officers, from the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police to Additional Commissioner of Police, were interviewed to get access to relevant information. Thirty five non-ips officers, out of whom five were female, were also interviewed face to face. Their designation ranged from Deputy 3

6 Commissioner of Police to sub Inspectors in-charge of Special Cells. This was essential to draw a comparison of the views amongst the officers on the basis of the rank structure. Findings of the Study The Kolkata Police has an eventful history of more than 150 years. The organization, introduced in the colonial period, has developed into its present form 60 years after independence (1947) from a mere squad to an organization of about 26,000 police personnel. However, in comparison to other states, West Bengal is lagging behind in so far as police department is concerned like the amount granted for modernization, number of computers available, motor transport, sniffer dogs, in-service training, women police stations, number of urban police stations and so on. Kolkata Police, being an arm of the state police, operates independently. But it suffers from those impediments. Apart from five divisions and fortyeight police stations, there are also several specialized departments to look into the multiple activities like detection of crime, controlling traffic, security, cybercrime etc. However, Kolkata Police lacks a special department to handle community policing programmes. It operates in an insignificant way through the police stations and the deputy commissioner of police of armed forces is in-charge of it. Incidents of domestic violence, crime against women, cybercrimes and other atrocities are quite rampant in Kolkata. The use of ICTs in this regard is noteworthy. The city police has introduced quite a few ICTs in police work which can be successful if the police officers are adequately informed about them. The Kolkata Police uses ICTs to meet an array of tasks like communication, intranet, internet, record management, and databanks. It also conducts several e services to cater to the people. However, the most popular tasks carried out through ICTs are communication, intranet and record management. Only the officers from the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police have internet access through their personal desktop computers. Others have one or two departmental computers with no internet connection and are deprived of a wide range of information. They do not have official ids too. The number of ICTs in the access of non IPS officers is far less and it is about five in number. The non- IPS officers have personal access to only mobile telephones; the rest of the ICTs are shared in the department or at the police stations. Thus there are discrepancies regarding access to technologies. Only a special section of Detective Department of Kolkata Police has access to data bank on Criminal Justice Administration. Moreover surveillance is still not regarded as an important attribute of ICTs by the Kolkata Police officers. A few Close Circuit Televisions(CCTVs) operate at 4

7 some of the important junctions of the city and is under the purview of the Kolkata Traffic Police. The police stations do not have close circuit televisions neither do the specialized departments. Again the Kolkata Police is yet to have a computer operated car. The dearth of these technologies is depriving the Kolkata Police to work more effectively. There is deficiency in percolation of ICTs bottom down and officers from the rank of sub inspectors do not have access to personal computers except in some specialized cells of the Detective Department. Moreover, the lower ranks are completely at the mercy of traditional means of policing. Again the in-service training that is offered to officers to make them conversant with ICTs is also not adequate. Most of the officers found the training unsatisfactory and some sought the help of other agencies to get acquainted with the ICTs. The comfort level of the officers in using ICTs is greater among the IPS officers. This may be because they are exposed to ICTs in their training period which the non-ips officers are not. Greater exposure and hands down training will help the officers to develop skill and interest in these technologies. Lack of comfort level will not actualize the functional utility of ICTs. The officers will continue to indulge in using the traditional means and there will be stagnation. Due to lengthy tedious hours of work, the non-ips police officers become restless and impatient and harsh on their juniors as well as common people. Again, the non-ips officers are dissatisfied as they have to bear the call cost and the price of the cell phone from their income. They have to report to their superiors frequently and the organization takes no liability for the cost that they have to incur. The job frustration and uneasiness at work place is also a common problem among women police officers. Discrimination due to their sex emanates from inadequate facilities (lack of restrooms) to stagnancy in promotion. This discontent with the profession is not harmful as it results in ineptitude, smugness and aggravation. More women officers must be given the opportunity to avail technical training on ICTs so that they can effectively use them for official purposes. The officers are positive about the use of ICTs in police work. To them the most important function of ICTs is their efficiency in work through accuracy, speedy response and easy exchange of information. However, the Kolkata Police officers remain a unaware of various concepts related to ICTs like cyber crime, e-governance and IT Act Most of the officers, especially those in the lower ranks, are not conversant with the different types of the computer crimes. In a situation, where the lower ranks are not yet comfortable with new technologies, the Kolkata Police is further introducing several e-services as part of its community policing programmes. It has initiated e-services to cater to the people especially 5

8 the elderly, women, non residents and the sick. It has initiated a blog to make itself accountable to public grievances. The traffic department has also undertaken several reformative measures through ICTs to check congestion and make the people aware of congested areas well ahead of time. Lastly, the e-services are only in the access of only a few. The officers shared their personal experiences with people through ICTs and narrated that most of the communication is done through mobile telephones. Only NRIs and industrialists communicate to them via internet. This is because most people do not have access or knowledge of computers and therefore they cannot avail these facilities. Hence, only computer literate people and those who can Short Message Service(SMS) can take the benefit of these services. This creates a digital divide whereby only the privileged few, especially the educated and higher income groups, can take the benefits of these services. These people are further marginalized and segregated from the society. Conclusion The Kolkata Police has suffered serious impediments to perform efficiently due to control, manipulation and intervention by the politically powerful. ICTs if popularized and implemented effectively, can play a very crucial role in transforming the traditional approach and authoritative mentality in policing. ICTs can act as an accessory which will help the Kolkata Police to become a people-friendly police force. ICTs will not only help them to reduce stress at work but also reach out to the people concerned faster and more effectively. The principles of community policing can be made a reality through new technologies. While assessing the impact of the ICTs on police and policing it has been observed that ICTs have to be infiltrated to the bottom ranks to result in greater functional utility. Access should be given to all ranks of officers in operating new technologies. Non-IPS officers should be given proper training in ICTs before they join the police force. Regular and improved in-service training and technology-friendly work environment can yield powerful and positive results for the police force. Women police officers should be encouraged to use ICTs in office work as it makes their task less tedious yet speedy. Unless that is made a reality, the police will continue to use traditional methods and police work will remain sloppy, authoritative and repressive. The awareness of the officers with regard to concepts based on ICTs should be encouraged and enhanced. ICTs can help in improving police-public relations. However they also create a digital divide between information haves and have-nots. Proper installation of 6

9 ICT-based services at the roadside kiosks can reduce this marginalization to some extent. Awareness programmes and frequent in-service training with ICTs can reduce the shyness of the officers and make them more people-friendly. Although police and policing in India have been critiqued in public sphere, more so by electronic and print media, there is a serious dearth of meaningful sociological research on the issue with special reference to ICTs. In this regard, it is unfeasible for a single study to cover all areas under the purview of the theme. A larger sample, people s perception of the police, views of all ranks of the police force in relation to ICTs and a trend study of police officers over a longer period of time would have yielded more generalizable results. Signature of the Supervisors Signature of the candidate Date: