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PESHAWAR: Several technology-driven initiatives have been introduced in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police over the past decade, but the province still faces challenges in fully digitising its operations.
The province needs digital integration of the entire criminal justice system to ensure effective investigation, prosecution and trial of cases, a senior police official said.
For this purpose, police databases need to be connected with those of the prosecution, courts and prisons so that information about an accused person, investigation, challan, court proceedings and imprisonment can be tracked digitally instead of being repeatedly processed through manual records.
Security experts suggested the initiative should also be expanded through digital integration of the criminal justice systems of all provinces, as well as ICT, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, with international linkages, including Interpol, to create a more connected, efficient and effective criminal justice information network.
They said the digital transformation of policing in KP began to take concrete shape after 2013 during the tenure of then Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani, when information technology was introduced on a broader scale to improve police efficiency, record-keeping, investigation and public service delivery.
The initiatives included digitisation of first information reports and daily diaries, police assistance lines, the police access system for complaints, the identity verification system linked with NADRA, the vehicle verification system, the tenant information system and the criminal record management system.
“A number of initiatives were taken during the last many years, aimed at replacing traditional manual procedures with digital databases and enabling police officers to obtain information and verify identities more quickly during investigations and field operations,” said DIG Crime Branch, KP, Muhammad Hussain Khan.
He said that modern policing could no longer be effectively conducted without technology and integrated databases.
“Digital systems were essential for improving investigation, crime analysis and accountability. KP needed to develop stronger indigenous technical capacity to ensure that police software could be modified, upgraded and maintained according to the province’s requirements,” said the DIG.
He appreciated the efforts of some officials, including DIG Irfan Tariq, DIG IT Rai Ijaz, deputy director Naveed Gul, Saleem Gul and others in the field of IT for KP police.
“The constant focus and personal monitoring of IGP Zulfiqar Hamid has been instrumental in taking the process forward, as no major initiative can move ahead without strong leadership and sustained institutional ownership,” said Hussain.
Many officials said the pace of digitisation in KP in the last few years was affected by the extraordinary operational pressures faced by the KP Police, particularly the prolonged counterterrorism and counterinsurgency campaigns. While police remained heavily engaged in immediate security operations, long-term technological development and updating of some systems did not receive the same level of attention.
Despite challenges, several important systems are now being used or developed, including the Police Station Record Management System, the Criminal Record Office for biometric identification and offender tracking, Safe City Peshawar, citizen facilitation and dispute resolution centres, and digital complaint management systems.
However, the police’s reliance on PITB for software development and architecture remains a significant structural issue.
“Since PITB functions under the Punjab government, KP authorities do not have direct administrative control over its priorities, timelines, and technical resources.
This can create difficulties when KP Police require urgent software modifications, technical troubleshooting, database changes or new features specifically designed for the province’s security environment,” said another senior official.
Officials and technology specialists believe KP should gradually develop the capacity to undertake specialised police software development through its own institutions, particularly the KP Information Technology Board and the IT Directorate at the Central Police Office.
They said ownership and control of source code, databases and system architecture should ultimately rest with the provincial police rather than being dependent on an external provincial institution.
Another major challenge is the absence of guaranteed long-term financing for digital policing. Technology infrastructure requires continuous expenditure on servers, biometric equipment, CCTV cameras, mobile devices, cybersecurity, cloud and data storage, software licences, maintenance and technical training.
Experts said that systems introduced through one-time development projects can quickly become obsolete if adequate annual funds are not allocated for maintenance and upgrades. They proposed a dedicated, ring-fenced IT budget for the KP Police to ensure uninterrupted maintenance, cybersecurity and replacement of ageing hardware.
Experts have also called for establishing a permanent research and development cell at the Central Police Office to study emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, predictive policing, digital forensics, automated crime analysis and advanced surveillance systems.
They said developed countries had made R&D and data integration a permanent component of law enforcement, enabling police, prosecutors and courts to share information in real time.
For KP, they said, the next phase of digitisation should therefore move beyond individual software projects and focus on creating an integrated, locally controlled and financially sustainable digital criminal justice system.
