Microsoft launches Scene of Crime Application

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

The application launched by Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and
Technology (S&T) and Ocean Development in the presence of Ravi Venkatesan,
Chairman, Microsoft India is expected to aid the process of criminal
investigations by making the process of entry and referral much faster, accurate
and standardized.

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 thereby leading 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 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. Speaking on the occasion Sibal, said “The Scene of
Crime Application developed by Microsoft will enable easy collec­tion,
collation and analysis of crime data which would go a long way in making digital
investigation a reality in our country.”

DQC NEWS BUREAU