Zebra Technologies, a U.S. based, $4.58 billion firm, that offers mobile computing products, barcode printers and scanning solutions to enterprises and governments in India and across the globe, has developed two high-tech solutions to help the Police.

These are: a digital police investigation tool kit code named Yatharth, which Zebra Technologies developed in collaboration with Sanpri Technologies and a 3D Forensic Mapping Solution, solely developed at its Bengaluru R&D centre.

The digital police investigation tool kit captures still images and videos of crime scenes with GPS locations and prepares digital statements with date and time accurately stamped to prevent any kind of evidence tampering. Digitally recorded statements created by this kit allows witnesses and investigation officers to refresh memories of panchnamas during the court trials and also deter witnesses from turning hostile.

Navi Mumbai Police has been using this technology in their investigations, evidence mapping, evidence management and court trials. After the deployment of ‘‘Yatharth’‘, Navi Mumbai Police has been able to conduct around 4,000 panchnamas, record around 6,000 statements. They have also captured videos with a running length of over 30 minutes per case. All the captured data and images are safely stored with Zebra Technologies’ Evidence Management System that leverages QR Code tracking.

Prasad Kasinathan, VP, Engineering India and Sri Lanka, Zebra Technologies told The Hindu that, ‘‘The future vision of the police department should be transforming the force into a knowledge-based one, to improve the delivery efficiency of citizen-centric services offered by police department in the country.’‘

The second platform, 3D Forensic Mapping Solution, helps in collecting crime and crash scenes faster and more comprehensively without missing any critical details helping in reducing human error. ‘‘It helps in mapping the crime scenes very safely and more efficiently, reducing the chances of tampering evidence. It also helps in capturing witnesses’ and investigators’ point of view, compiling court presentations with completely accurate representation of what the police found and heard at the crime scene,’‘ said Kasinathan.

According to Mr Kasinathan, with the introduction of the Bhartiya Sakshya Bill (that replaces Indian Evidence Act, 1872), digital forensic is poised to take centre stage in legal and investigative domains.

‘’It provides investigators with the right tools and technologies critical to help record, preserve, analyse, and present digital data in a manner that adheres to legal standards and ensures its admissibility in court,’‘ he added.