E-policing did not expand as expected with several services already shut down. Though police say they have not been terminated, only suspended for much needed revamping.
In 2010, Dhaka Metropolitan Police started the online general diary or GD system which has now stopped. Police sources say, this has not been stopped and will resume after certain technical issues are settled.
Many people lodge false GD’s and there wasn’t any way to verify the facts, say police sources.
The online GD began to deal with lost passports, certificates, bank cheque-books, sudden flight of night guard or domestic help etc.
Additional DIG of police headquarters, Monibur Rahman, told Bangla Tribune, “This facility will start again after we have streamlined certain aspects.”
The police also began the online police clearance service but delays happened since many could not apply properly or submit the fees.
While citizens have raised the need for the money to be taken online, police say that, currently, they cannot take money online and it has to be paid to the bank.
Dhaka city police joint commissioner (crime), Monir Hossain told Bangla Tribune, “Online police clearance is running properly but it takes time to provide clearance following proper assessment of documents.”
Bangladesh police is providing police, fire and ambulance service, through dialing 999 – a toll free number.
This service has had huge response from the masses, as everyday, countless calls came to seek help in cases of rape, child marriage, robbery, hijacking or emergency ambulance service. However, the time taken to reach the help seeker is 25/30 minutes due to vehicle shortage and traffic jam.
Police SP of national emergency service, Tabarakullah, told Bangla Tribune, “We try our best to provide help at the shortest possible time.”
To disseminate information among the police and public, the mobile application, ‘Hello City’ was inaugurated on Jul 31, 2016.
The main objective was to give information about militancy and drugs. The specialty of the app is that a person can remain anonymous and provide information to the police.
Using this app, anyone around the world can provide information from around the world.
The information provided is scrutinised by a special team of the city unit.
To provide e-policing facilities, the police headquarters now have a data centre, which is small, there isn’t any security system to prevent cyber-attacks and the 36 application servers do not have back up servers.
As a result, if the server is down then, online service is hampered.
Already, efforts have been taken to increase the efficacy of the data centre at a cost of more than Tk 1.54 billion.
Approved at the ECNEC, this project will be implemented by December 2020.
Additional DIG of police headquarters, Monibur Rahman, told Bangla Tribune, “The field of e-policing is vast; we are progressing and trying to implement most plans to provide the best services to the citizens.”