National Police Summit: Ahsan for adopting latest technologies to counter challenges

Emphasizing the need for adopting the latest technologies to counter challenges of cyber crime, terrorism and extremism, Federal Minister for Interior Ahsan Iqbal has said that development and prosperity hinge upon peace. The minister said this while addressing the daylong first National Police Summit and Innovation Expo-2018 organized by National Police Bureau (NPB) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) here on Wednesday.
"There must be a strong relationship between police and academia to tackle the modern day challenges and police must be ahead of criminals in use of technologies," he said. The summit was also attended by Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, Director General NPB Shaukat Hayat, IGP Islamabad Dr Sultan Azam Temuri, IGP Sindh AD Khwaja, IGP Punjab Arif Nawaz, IGP Gilgit-Baltistan Sabir Ahmad, IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Salahuddin Mehsud, IGP Balochistan Moazzan Jah Ansari, and IGP AJK Shoaib Ahmad,
The National Police Summit and Innovation Expo-2018 was organized with an aim to display innovative technologies and evolve new ideas to revolutionize policing system and improve the professional conduct of police and introduce them with modern policing so that police in the country can better serve the society and the people.
Addressing on this occasion Iqbal congratulated the HEC and the NPB on holding the first ever 'National Police Summit and Innovation Expo,' where academia and national police heads gathered under one roof. Terming the police martyrs as national martyrs, Iqbal paid rich tributes to them saying the nation is proud of them.
He said the purpose of summit was to strengthen linkages among the government, academia and police. He was of the view that universities play a very vital role in coping with the challenges of crime and terrorism.
The interior minister said that as universities are the places which bring about new technologies, so it is very important to build strong government-academia-industry linkages. "This partnership will lead to new avenues of collaboration," he added. He said that universities, especially the departments of psychology, sociology and criminology, can help decode the minds of criminals.
He further said that policing is one of the oldest functions of state as maintaining peace and ensuring security of citizens are among the primary tasks of a state. Peace is a primary requisite, he said, adding that all stakeholders have to play their significant role for ensuring peace.
He underlined that policing performs very fundamental role in success of a nation which is why the police need to equip themselves with the latest technologies. He said that cyber crime has become one of the key challenges for police. This requires new competencies to understand and utilize new technologies, he added.
Iqbal expressed hope the next National Police Summit and Innovation Expo will have representation of police departments from friendly countries so that ideas could be exchanged for improvement in policing. He said that youth is the power of Pakistan, so every department should be youth-centric.
He said that the police can use universities as a strong collaborative platform to interact with youth. He said that the Islamabad Police have been directed to exhibit zero tolerance on safety measures and traffic violations. "Enforcement of traffic laws can save hundreds of lives," he said, adding that new ideas need to be evolved to materialize the concept of community policing. He said that the government has established national database of criminals which helps identify criminals everywhere in the country.
The interior minister said they will have to make the youth safe and protected. He said the police need to develop strong relationship with the community to win their confidence.
He said that the police have a crucial role to play for making Pakistan a safe and strong country. He said that Pakistan has achieved unprecedented achievements against war on terror. He said that the country's valiant personnel of the police fought terrorism from the front and rendered their precious lives for defense of the motherland.
He also launched the e-policing project which includes a citizen app and electronic challan system. The members of police departments from all provinces participated in the summit and informed about police reforms. National and international experts gave lectures regarding modern policing. The representatives from provincial police departments and others also spoke on the occasion and gave their suggestions to improve the policing system. Security analysts Ammar Jaffery and Dr Zafar underlined the importance of using modern technology in policing affairs to curb criminal activities.
Police uniforms, security vehicles, firearms, crime scene aids, pursuit vehicles, motorbikes and other security equipment were also placed at the expo.
During the ceremony, prizes worth Rs 100,000, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 were distributed among the winners of innovation project of proposals and innovative ideas. In the innovation project proposals, Bahria University Islamabad clinched the first position, while Riphah International University won the second position and Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad obtained third position. A total of 112 project proposals were received in the competition. Rawalpindi Medical College won the best idea award in the competition.
IG NH&MP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam presented a memento to Ahsan Iqbal during the summit and distributed gifts among the students. All law enforcement agencies (LEAs) of Pakistan participated in the expo and decorated their stalls to highlight their success stories, new ideas in their traditional day-to-day working and improvement of their overall organizational effectiveness and performance.
The National Highways & Motorway Police also participated in the expo and displayed latest equipments and road safety educational materials along with latest technologies and technical accessories on their stall.