The South African Police Service (SAPS) is rolling out an e-docket solution, a national photo identification system, as well as a fingerprint enrolment system.
These solutions form part of the police's involvement in the greater Integrated Justice System (IJS) and, according to director Willie Meyer, pave the way for a new-look, technology-driven police force.
Meyer was part of a panel discussion on the IJS's progress at the State IT Agency's recent GovTech conference, in Durban. He says all three systems are "well on their way to being in place across the country by this time next year".
The IJS aims to establish a transversal "crime-to-punishment" IT solution for the Department of Justice, National Prosecuting Authority, SAPS, Correctional Services, and the Department of Social Development. It is to be funded by the different government agencies involved, as applicable to them. While no recent figures exist for the entire project value, it was estimated to cost R2 billion in 2002.
Taking charge
Meyer explains that police want to improve the management of cases through technology interventions, and cut down on lost dockets and corruption by making the entire process of case management more transparent.
In the long run, "the police also want to enhance its online intelligence capabilities through business intelligence tools", Meyer says. However, he was reluctant to expand on this, citing security concerns.
The SAPS e-docket solution entails the capturing - either via typing or scanning - of physical dockets into a national digital database.
The aim is for this to link with the SAPS' system integration bus, an IBM solution, using open standards, where law enforcement officers across various government departments can push and pull documents to and from each other to access information.
Meyer says this kind of capability is still a long way off and will not be in place by 2010. However, there is interoperability in place between the police and the National Prosecuting Authority.
Crime-busting tech
The police also want to implement a solution - possibly by next year - where the public can be informed via SMS and e-mail of the status of their cases, a process that will be driven by the SAPS' current service provider, Vodacom.
The national photo identification system is based on the digital capturing of suspects' faces in the field. "These pictures are then sent to a national database where they are verified in real-time," says Meyer.
While this solution is not expensive, the new fingerprint enrolment system has proved to be pricey. "Scanning devices, that can capture all 10 fingers, as well as palm prints, are being rolled out across the country at a cost of about R190 000 each."
Meyer says the scanning devices are aimed at reducing the number of "re-takes" of fingerprints that are currently being captured with ink on paper.
Meanwhile, the tender for the SAPS' exhibit management system is being evaluated. Under this project, a consistent user interface for the automated handling of evidence is to be created for use by the courts and the police. It is to be piloted in Durban, at the beginning of 2009, with national roll-out scheduled to commence in April 2009. The project, as a whole, is to be fully implemented as of January 2011.
Meyer would not be drawn on the combined costs of these SAPS initiatives.
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