UPSC Express

In focus: SMART Police stations

Introduction

• In the 2014 DG/IG Annual Conference, the Prime Minister had introduced the concept of SMART policing.
• SMART Police expands for
• Sensitive but Strict
• Modern with mobility
• Alert and Accountable
• Reliable and Responsive
• Trained and Techno-savvy

SMART Police Stations

• In the making of SMART Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced the establishment of one model SMART police station in each state.
• The select model Police Stations in the country are assessed on the basis of a survey based on certain parameters and best police stations awarded.
• The idea was to generate a culture of competition among the police stations in each state.
• Besides the Ministry of Home Affairs will assist State Governments for setting up of more SMART Police Stations
• Private sector involvement is enabled through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes in rolling out SMART Police Stations.

Organisations

• Intelligence Bureau is responsible for identifying the best performing police stations.
• Besides, Quality Council of India is responsible for a national-level accreditation of SMART police stations.

Parameters

• Performance in controlling crime
• Infrastructure
• Mobility of police force
• Emergency response system
• Traffic management
• Records maintenance
• Citizen perception of police personnel
• Welfare of police personnel
• Technology deployment
• CCTNS upgradation

Characteristic features of SMART Police stations

• Basic amenities for visitors, waiting area, toilets, drinking water etc
• Helpdesk
• Rest room for constables
• Separate rest rooms for women constables
• Natural lighting and ventilation, solar lighting, energy saving features.
• CCTV, Safe & secure armoury, record room, communication room for wireless, computers etc.
• Automated kiosks for filing of complaints by public

CCTNS

• CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) is a national level digitazed database on crimes and criminals.
• It facilitates pan-India search on crimes and criminals by investigating officers throughout the country.
• CCTNS project interconnects about 15,000 police stations across the country.
• CCTNS will include a number of citizen-friendly services including
• Police verification for various purposes like issuance of passport,
• Reporting a crime and online tracking of the case progress,
• Online reporting of grievances against police officials,
• Accessing victim compensation fund and legal services

In brief: Quality Council of India

• QCI is a non-profit autonomous organization under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.
• It is the accreditation authority in India, responsible for national level quality assessment and accreditation in India.
• It is registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.
• It has representation of government, industry organizations like ASSOCHAM, CII and FICCI and consumer organizations.
• QCI runs accreditation programmes through its Boards namely the National Accreditation Board for Education & Training (NABET) for accreditation of schools, National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH).
• The Chairperson of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister.