Every hour, at least four persons suspected of being involved in a criminal activity are called to police stations in Delhi, while around 31,000 are rounded up by the police annually.
The suspects are made to place their fingers on a machine, which transmits their fingerprints and sends it to a computer, where their personal details such as name, age, place of residence and fingerprints are recorded. To verify if the suspect is not an absconding criminal, the screen pops up with a result within 5-7 minutes.
Since 2006, this system known as Computerised Remote Identification of Suspects (CRIS) has been acting as a resource unit for the police to nab absconding criminals.
However, 10 years on, CRIS is in a dismal state. Defunct machines, lack of specialised people in handling the system and most importantly, the sorry state of infrastructure, have led to its failure.
Policemen at the Ghazipur police station said CRIS is only used on important occasions like Republic Day, Independence Day, etc. where the possibility of crime multiplies.
For maintaining the records of criminals in the city and those entering here from other states, the Delhi Police had incorporated CRIS in 2006. An inkless record-keeping system, CRIS has assisted police forces across the world, but due to improper upkeep the technology lies under-utilised in Delhi. The official said, “It is a just a machine-based system and is bound to have its flaws. The possibility of many history-sheeters escaping even after being checked cannot be ruled out. The main problem in using the CRIS is that on most days, it is non-functional.” Another flaw with CRIS is that it is not a fool-proof system and does not exactly help in solving cases, the official added.
This comes at a time when the Delhi Police have been consistently launching numerous e-apps. Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, “CRIS is a comprehensive database, where each suspected person is checked. Around 100 persons are checked daily. It has been in place for years and has been helpful.”