by Police - Bureau of Police Research and Development

The Indian Police JournalIn this context it would be pertinent to discuss Shri Umesh Sharraf, IPS, and JMD,APTRANSCO, Hyderabad, paper ‘Resolution of Civil Disputes by Police’ which indirectlydelivers the message to police and internal security establishment to go for internal reformor self-reform, by taking initiatives such as Shri Sharraf took in making ‘System orientedeffort to resolve civil disputes’ when he was Commissioner of Police in Vijayawada in 2004,to provide an effective pre-litigation conflicts resolution. Even though most of the PoliceManuals and Rules prevent the police from taking a pro-active role in settlement of disputes,Shri Sharraf mooted a civil disputes resolution mechanism ‘to remove mismatch betweenthe pressure of the community’s expectation and the conventional limits placed on the policerole’. What is innovative rather path-breaking about this mechanism that it ‘could be set upin all units, to provide quick and effective resolution of the long-pending need of the citizensand generate immense goodwill for the police in the public’.Lately, cybercrime has become a challenge for the policing and internal security. It isimpinging on over all security scenario of the country, as terrorists and petty criminals arechipping in cyber crime, posing a severe challenge. Keeping this in mind, we have featuredtwo papers on cyber crime and related issues.The paper ‘An Approach to Formalizing the Technical Investigation of Cyber Crime within LawEnforcement’ by Prof. R. Thilaga Raj, HOD, Criminology Department, University of Madras,Chennai, discusses the transnational scenario associated with cyber crime and the rapidgrowth of cyber criminality likely to occur. “The perception of cyber crime investigationfocusing on Indian Law enforcement perspective are introduced by taking into considerationthe following stages of initiation (such as) assessment, risks, impact, planning tools, trainingaction and outcome so as to enable a structured approach in conducting a rigorous approachto cyber crime investigation’.The other paper “Cyber Crime and its Protection in India” by Dr. Sukhvinder Singh Dari,Assistant Professor with Symbiosis Law School, explores the importance of Cyber Lawin India and how cyber crimes are dealt with under IT Act, with focus on laws that are inoperation in some countries and need to change provisions of the existing laws.It would be rather an act of omission if the paper titled as ‘Fire in Forest: Tackling MaoistMenace’ by Dr. S.P. Singh, Police Commissioner of Mumbai is not discussed. Dr. Singhprovides a holistic strategy and tactics to tackle Maoist menace, which is based on wellcoordinatedapproach and unconventional measures. Among other things, Dr. Singhprovides a framework whereby the tribal and backward populace of the affected areascould have direct participation in the management of forest and forest-based economicactivities, and other development projects, through Gram Sabha and Panchyats. Hevouches for the change in surrender policy, cutting the source of the funds, breakingthe terrain barriers and mastering the terrain, use of technology, intelligence basedoperations, etc.(Gopal K.N. Chowdhary)EditorJanuary - March, 20133