Microsoft''s Crime Application

NEW DELHI: With the aim of using technology to digitize the manual investigation process in the police departments, Department of Science and Technology in collaboration with Microsoft India, today announced the launch of the Scene of Crime Application.

The application launched by Kapil Sibal, Union minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences at a press conference in New Delhi is expected to aid the process of criminal investigations by making the process of entry and referral much faster, accurate and standardized.

Speaking on the occasion, Kapil Sibal stressed the need to modernize criminal investigation process by making forensic methods more scientific and technologically advanced. He expressed hope that the Scene of Crime Application developed by Microsoft would enable easy collection, collation and analysis of crime data which would go a long way in making digital investigation a reality in the country.

Speaking on the collaboration, Ravi Venkatesan, Chairman, Microsoft India said that the investigation process in the country is still in a nascent stage, therefore, there is a strong need to make it modern and accountable. The ‘Scene of Crime application’ is a critical deliverable in this regard.

Most of the criminal investigations today are conducted manually including the FIR, the witness recordings, forensic, medical and other reports. There is always a possibility of losing the paper recordings and thereby lead to loss of information or even difficulty in accessing the information at a later date. The application meets the critical need of the investigating officers to record the information electronically and at the same time assist them in making faster co-relations and searches which can help in solving the cases faster, thereby also increasing the conviction rates in cases.

The Scene of Crime Application developed by Microsoft includes:

- Data Entry: an officer can record the FIR and all the details associated with it including the nature of crime, victim details, witness details, modus operandi details and property seizure and surrender

- Application to store digital content: photographs of the crime, videos from the crime scene, witness statements, forensic and other reports can be recorded digitally and referred back during an investigation

- Reports: built-in reports that allows investigating officers to prepare summary reports for their superiors on a click of a button. They can also be used to prepare the reports required to be submitted in the courts during the course of an investigation

The application also includes a central portal to consolidate all the investigations and FIRs. A state wide scene of crime portal ensures that the data including the digital content is saved and forwarded to a central repository where the various users from the police department can search through the data.

© CIOL Bureau