Crime conveys a broader content than corruption or misconduct. It includes corruption, as also various economic offences, white-collar and physical offences. The Police force in the country is entrusted with the responsibility of maintenance of law & order, i.e. detection, prosecution and prevention of crimes. Law and order and police being state subjects under the Constitution, police is maintained and directed under the authority of respective State Governments. But Indian Public are citizens for the whole of the country and they have right to move from any part of the country to any other part freely. Crime could take place with inter-state dimensions and after committing crimes in one State, criminals can flee to another. Functioning under the jurisdiction of a single State, the Police force has to tackle this phenomenon in crime detection and prevention management. Though separated State wise, the police force in different States functions in a unified and integrated manner, to overcome this situation.

The Indian Police set up uniquely takes into account the needs of the country. There is separate police establishment for each State, but all these are linked through wireless communication and Internet links (web sites) for quick and easy pooling and exchange of information. State units are also linked to different central units like:

• CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

• NATIONAL CRIME RECORD BUREAU.

• FBI, USA,

• INTERPOL

Links to Non-police Websites in India relevant to Police

• MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, NEW DELHI

• NATIONAL INFORMATICS CENTRE

• NCRB INDIA

Links to Non-police websites abroad relevant to Police

• CRIMESTAR, a software on crime records

• IODA, UK based consultant,

• MEMEX, Intelligence software

All senior posts of Police Service in various States are manned by the officers of Indian Police Service cadre (lPS), recruitment to which is made on all-India basis. All these officers like the IAS cadre are trained together in National Police Academies. Though based in different States this system provides a single culture and unified cadre for the Indian Police administration.

While law and order is looked after by the respective States within their jurisdiction, internal security for the whole country is the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. MOH is the central-level coordinating agency and Governors of various States submit monthly reports on the law and order situation within their respective States. MOH also calls for reports from the respective Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of the various State Governments.

The Police force in the State is headed by the Director General of Police/Inspector General of Police. Every State is divided into units comprising number of districts called Ranges and each Police Range is under the administrative control of a Deputy Inspector General of Police. District police is further sub-divided into police divisions, circles and police stations. Besides the civil police, States also maintain their own armed police and have separate intelligence branches, crime branches, etc.

Police set-up in big cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, etc. is directly under a Commissioner of Police who enjoys Magisterial powers. Recruitment, promotion and cadre control in respect of lower posts from police constable to deputy superintendent of police are done by the state governments

The Government of India maintains a number of Central forces. Central Bureau of intelligence (IB) and Central Bureau of investigation (CBI), a number of institutions for training of police officers and scientific or technical assistance in investigation and detection of crimes are maintained by the Government. In addition to police force the Government of India also maintain a number of para-military forces to maintain internal security. The names of these agencies and the functions discharged by them are described below.

1. The Intelligence Bureau (IB):
   It is the Indian government's domestic intelligence agency, and reputedly the world's oldest intelligence agency. It is rather difficult to ascertain what the IB does, since its operations are outside the purview of audit or inquiry. In addition to domestic intelligence responsibilities, the IB is particularly tasked with intelligence collection in border areas, following the 1951 recommendations of the Himmatsinhji Committee (also known as the North and Northeast Border Committee), a task entrusted to military intelligence organizations prior to independence in 1947. The IB was also tasked with other external intelligence responsibilities as of 1951.

2. Central Bureau Of Investigation
   (http://cbi.nic.in/ )
   We have earlier dealt with role of CBI as an agency discharging anti-corruption responsibilities with reference to public servants. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was created in April 1963. Prior to that the organization was known as Special Police Establishment created and functioning under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. In 1963, after the creation of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the functions of this organization were enlarged covering besides investigation the role of National Central Crime Bureau for India under the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), as also the Central Forensic Science Laboratory. CBI indexes criminals involved in international crimes and verifies fingerprints from various foreign national crime bureaux. INTERPOL notices are also circulated to various enforcement agencies in the country through CBI.

3. Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP)
   (http://www.goindiago.com/general/juslaw1.htm):
   The Indo-Tibetan Border Police was raised in October 1962, in the aftermath of the Chinese aggression. The role of ITBP is to :

   1. Safeguard the security of borders of India and promote a sense of security among the people living in border areas;

   2. Prevent trans-border crimes, smuggling, unauthorized entry into or exit from the territory of India and any other illegal activity;

   3. Provide security to sensitive installations, banks, persons of security risk and

   4. Restore and preserve order in any area in the event of disturbance therein.

4. Border Security Force (BSF) (http://bsf.nic.in/):
   The Border Security Force was established in 1965. BSF is created as the agency to maintain permanent vigilance on India's international borders. The present strength of BSF is 157 battalions, and it is guarding a total of 6,622 km of international borders, including rugged terrain of mountains, inhospitable deserts, riverine and marshy areas. BSF has been assigned the role of promoting a sense of security amongst the people living in the border areas and preventing trans-border crimes, such as smuggling, infiltration/ exfiltration and other illegal activities

5. Assam Rifles: (http://nagaland.nic.in/more/assam.htm )
   The Assam Rifles with its glorious history of 163 years is the oldest para-military force in the country. Raised as Cachar Levy in 1835, the force has grown in size. With its present strength of 31 battalions, the force is primarily responsible for the security of Indo-Tibet and Indo-Myanmar border, conducting counter insurgency operations in the north-east and elsewhere in India and outside India when necessity demands.

6. National Security Guards(NSG)
   (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/india/mod/nsg.htm):
   The National Security Guards (NSG) has been set up for handling terrorists, kidnappers, saboteurs, anti-hijacking operations, recovery of hostages, VIP security, etc. It is a trained and motivated Force equipped with high standards of professional competence for effectively dealing with terrorist activities in the country. It also trains state police commandos to upgrade their capability to meet the terrorist threats and carry out bomb detection/defusion operations.

7. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
   (http://crpf.nic.in/crpf.htm:
   The Central Reserve Police Force is an Armed Force of the Union of India for internal security management. This Force was raised in 1939 as the Crown Representative's Police and was renamed as Central Reserve Police Force in 1949. CRPF has 137 battalions, 10 RAF battalions 2 Mahila battalions, 5 Signal battalions and one Special Duty Group. The CRPF assists the state police forces in the maintenance of law and order. Presently its major commitments are in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

8. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
   (http://www.fas.org/irp/world/india/home/cisf.htm):
   The web site is maintained by Federation of American Scientists (FAS). The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) was established in 1969. It provides security to industrial undertakings of the Government. Starting from about 3,000 personnel the Force now numbers over 96,000. This Force has the responsibility to provide sophisticated security to both property and personnel deployed in industrial complexes of Central Government. The Force is governed by the CISF Act of 1968 and a set of Rules called CISF Rule of 1969. CISF is presently stationed in 233 public-sector undertakings.

The country after independence has been facing a series of internal problems, sustained terrorist disruptions, communal strifes etc. The Indian Police is a disciplined and well trained operational force and looks after multifarious tasks entrusted to it effectively.

The National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, New Delhi, was set up in 1972 to undertake research and training in criminology and forensic science. It conducts integrated in-service training programmes for the functionaries of criminal justice system.

Officers from Government departments and public-sector undertakings within the country and also from neighbouring countries come to this Institute for short-term and long-term orientation/international/ professional courses. The Institute is a reference centre in the field of criminology and forensic science and has a rich library. It brings out a quarterly journal 'Indian Journal of Criminology and Criminalistics'.

The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy is the premier police training institution in the country, which imparts both basic and in-service training to Indian Police Service (IPS) officers. Established in 1948 at Mount Abu, Rajasthan, the Academy was shifted to Hyderabad in 1975. The training programmes conducted at the Academy are the basic course for IPS probationers, three in-service management courses for officers of the junior, middle and top levels of the Indian Police Service. Training of Trainers and Training Administrators Course, Vertical Interaction Course for IPS officers, and Vertically Integrated Training Programme for Indian Administrative Service officers, Foundational Course for All India Services and Civil Services (Group- A) probationers, and short-duration specialized courses, seminars and workshops for senior officers from IAS, IPS and judiciary Services. The Academy also promotes study and research on police-related topics.

National Crime Records Bureau collects and disseminates information on crimes in India. NCRB, located at New Delhi under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India, is a nodal agency committed to use of Information Technology for modernization of Indian Police.

The genesis of NCRB in 1986 lies in the recommendation of National Police Commission, to collect And disseminate information on crimes. This organization is a nodal agency Under The Ministry of Home Affairs.

Directorate of Coordination of Police Computers, Central Finger Print Bureau, Data Section of Coordination Division and Statistical Section of Bureau of Police Research and Development are constituents.

NCRB has installed 740 server based computer systems at every District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB) and State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) across the country under a modernization project of MHA by the name "Crime Criminal Information System (CCIS)". This will help NCRB maintain National Level Database of Crimes, Criminals and Property connected / involved in crime.

NCRB is the first organization to have installed the Automatic Finger Print Identification system (AFIS) called FACTS in India, which presently only a few countries in the world may claim to have. Digitized fingerprints database would also be maintained at NCRB. In near future, CCIS integrated with AFIS, would be one of the biggest networked computer-system in India in the aid of Criminal Justice System.

Development of software for Indian Police is another area of our specialization. Software packages developed by NCRB like CCIS, Property-Coordination & Portrait Building system are operational in every Indian State. Currently Bureau is engaged in developing application software for total computerization of Police Station working which includes printing of First Information Report (FIR) as well as maintenance of records.

NCRB runs 21 regular training programs for Indian and foreign police officers. Having trained more than 22,000 police officers, nobody understands use of Information technology for Police working in India as good as us.

The need for establishing a separate organization to identify and analyze various issues and problems of Indian Police with changing law and order, socio-economic political scenario was felt much before, this Bureau came into existence. The first step in this direction was the creation of Crime Records, Statistics and Research Divisions in the year 1963, undertake the control of CBI. In 1966, Police Research and Development Advisory Council was set up under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary. However, the original thinking of creating an exclusive organization persisted and this formed the basis of establishing the Bureau of Police Research & Development in August 1970, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, with two divisions- The Research & Statistics and Publication Division and Development Division. Later in 1973, Training Division was added and Central Detective Training Schools at Calcutta, Chandigarh & Hyderabad were transferred to the Bureau. Besides, Forensic Sciences wing was created in 1973 and the three central laboratories at Chandigarh, Calcutta and Hyderabad were transferred to the Bureau.

The Bureau basically advises the Ministry of Home Affairs, the state police forces and central police organizations on police related issues BPR&D is headed by a police officer of the rank of Director General of police. Its two divisions- Research and Development & Training Division are headed by police officers of the rank of Inspector General of Police and the third division i.e. Forensic Science Division is headed by a prominent scientist designated as Director/Chief Scientific Officer. The three CDTS (Central Detective Training School) under BPR&D located at Calcutta, Chandigarh and Hyderabad are headed by Principals, who are police officers of the ranks of Superintendent of Police. Central Forensic Science labs situated at Calcutta, Hyderabad & Chandigarh have Directors as their incharges, who are basically scientists.