KP police chief inaugurates Atomated Redressal System

By Ashrafuddin Pirzada PESHAWAR: Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police doctor Sanaullah Abbasi on Thursday Inaugurates Automated Complaints Redressal System in Peshawar. Keeping abreast of the vision of the govrnment of achieving “Digital Pakistan”, the Inspector General of KPK Police inaugurated the fully automated Complaints Redressal System to address the problems and work the complaints lodged by citizens. Speaking on the occasion IGP Dr. Sanaullah Abbasi said, “the automation of the Complaint Redressal System is a step in the right direction for KP police. Our objective is to provide speedy access to justice to all citizens of KP including merged districts. After lengthy internal deliberations, we initiated this project to reach out to vulnerable groups, especially women, girls, youth, and minorities. Now they can reach out to us through the comfort of their homes”,he added. Addressing the audience Dr. Adnan Rafiq (Country Director USIP) said the system was launched due to an imminent need to bridge the trust deficit that exists between the public and the police. He said the digitization of the PCRS is a step in a series of steps which are needed in the right direction to improve the overall situation of trust deficit. "Provision of swift justice to the vulnerable population and mold the policing approach in Pakistan into a more citizen centric one was the aim of the project launched" he pledged. He said as a first of a kind policing initiative in Pakistan the PCRS would make it accessible for the public to reach the police through the following innovative features. He said social media integration (WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter), Mobile App for Public to register and track complaints, single SMS short code for Public (8855), a toll free helpline for public ( 0800-004000),automated email integration, monitoring app for IG, RPO and DPO offices, ensuring process transparency with live SMS updates the complainant, digitized and paperless system, centralized system for complaint registration and redressal, integrated voice over IP based call center in CPO and an integrated chat system for the officials. He said through this digitization of Police Complaints Redressal System (PCRS) the provision of justice will become a swift process for the public and the police would have a less strenuous routine while handling these cases with the ease of moving things online. The benefits of this service will also ensure a transparent policing system which includes a live and centralized reporting for higher management to assess the efficiency of the officials on the field and reporting hints at the insight of the target area for effective policing. A complaint process will be available to the public and feedback will be taken at every stage of handling the complaint for ensuring public satisfaction, it is through inclusion of such checks and balances that the accountability on part of the police will be ensured. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by all Regional Police officers from across KP, via video link.