India Police Hackathon Organized To Tackle Crime Via Technology

The Karnataka Police and RV College of Engineering had recently organized the India Police Hackathon 2019. The results of which were declared on Tuesday. A total of 303 teams had participated in the contest from which 45 teams were shortlisted. The motive of this event was to create an efficient policing system with the help of technology. According to a report, India has reported the highest number of hackathon events in recent times. Over 10 events are organized every month in various states of India.

The participants were required to use advanced coding methods to resolve problems faced by police during crime investigations. It includes facial recognition, data analytics, combined communication approach, patrolling, online open-source intelligence, and investigations. Indian policing system continues to battle with high-end technology to fight crimes. With the use of technology, several crimes are being committed in India and many criminals have managed to hoodwink cops. State police departments in India are continuously trying to upgrade their cybercrime cells but are yet to crack the modus operandi used by criminals.

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers were the mentors for the first-ever India Police Hackathon. Team Sarvatra from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore worked on a facial recognition project and bagged the first prize. Team Vikings from Target Corporation Of India won the second prize and had showcased its project on the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) Data Analytics. The third price was achieved by Doozie from Doozie Software Solutions which focused on Centralized Standard Beat Management Solution which would enable a centralized server to monitor police personnel during patrolling.

Ritesh Bhatia, cyber crime investigator told MobyGeek that India requires more such events inorder to tackle day to day issues. "We have to be very alert while dealing with criminal activities through web. Technology is a solution to handle and manage such activities. A criminal mind can land behind bars if we are rightly armed."