(Daily News Scan - DNS English) What is TRAKEA Software?
Haryana Police has adopted new barcoding software. This software is known as Trakea. It will keep safe all the criminal forensic reports and will also form a backbone of the criminal investigation system. This software will ensure full security of the samples collected from crime scene. Haryana Police has claimed it to be the country’s first police force to have introduced a unique barcoding for forensic reports.
In this DNS we will know about Trakea.
Trakea software is developed by a prisoner who was in jail for 13 months. Basically this prisoner is a software engineer by profession. The time he spent in jail, he worked on software, writing algorithms. After he was released from jail Haryana police acquired his creation. Software was modified to suit the requirement of the Haryana police and then adopted. The same engineer had earlier designed a software digitizing data pertaining to prison inmates and prison operations across all 19 jails of Haryana.
The software Trakea aims at ensuring security and a tamperproof tracking system for forensic reports. In simple terms, it is software that is a forensic evidence management system. It will help in the automation of the entire procedure, starting from the stage when forensic experts collect necessary samples from the scene of crime to analyzing the samples. It is later on followed by tracking case wise forensic reports electronically through barcodes. This software also helps in the selection of the forensic teams randomly.
How this Software Actually Work
The system has two stage barcoding. This is sent along a strong unbroken biometrically authenticated chain of custody trial, which is coupled with features to eliminate chances of pick-and-choose by automated case allocation to the scientists, followed by report-generation and real-time tracking of the status of cases. It is done through automated e-mail and SMS notifications. Only the authorized investigating officers and forensic science experts shall be able to track the crime exhibits and scientific examination reports. This reduces the chances of tampering/leakage of the report at any stage. It is because of the unique barcoding system. No case details will be mentioned on the crime samples/parcels except the unique barcode. The barcode could only be read through the biometric system.
Earlier when this type of system was not available, conventionally the crime exhibits (samples/parcels) were labeled with complete details, including the case FIR number; the police station; and the names and addresses of the victim, accused, medical officers including other details. The crime exhibits could include DNA samples, documents, and reports of ballistics examinations, serology, biology, toxicology and lie-detection. With all these details available, the crime exhibits can be easily traced and tracked by anyone. From the time sample is collected to the time the experts draw their conclusion, there are several stages. During all these stages chances are there that the accused can use their influence to tamper with the sample in order to get a favorable forensic report.
This software is very useful as it reduces the risk of tampering the forensic reports. In the coming future this software may be brought as an app based on android platform. It will help in real time online reporting of crime scene investigation visits by officers of mobile forensic science units posted in each district. Also its integration with the judicial system to reduce time lags and the chances of malpractices even at later stages is been looked forward to. With the help of this software the judiciary too will be able to track the forensic examination report during the trial, significantly cutting down on delays.
