The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has upgraded the Nigeria Police Crime and Incident Database, a centre for providing aid to the police in acquiring credible electronic information.
In a statement released by the Force on Tuesday, shared on its Twitter handle, @PoliceNG, it noted that the upgrade was done “to support investigations and strategic operational and tactical planning which would, in turn, facilitate easy identification of suspects, crime location, modus operandi, Global Positioning System to geolocate crimes, amongst others.
The force noted that the upgrade of the Nigeria Police Crime and Incident Database had been commissioned by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in 2020, and had become imperative in view of the sophistication of criminals, who now applied technology to perpetuate their nefarious activities.
“The database would provide baseline data using Information Communication and Technology and biometrics, stimulate digital crime-fighting techniques, and accessibility to a one-stop data bank for professional profiling of criminal elements and effective crime data management in the Force.
“The IGP has mandated the project consultant to fast track comprehensive training of dedicated police personnel who would man the systems across Zonal, State, and Divisional Headquarters for the collection, management, and uploading of biometric data, case files, investigation, and trial processes, to the central database at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.
Similarly, the IGP has ordered a full-scale upgrade of all Police Forensic laboratories and digital resource centres across the nation.
The statement said further that the IGP “equally tasked Forensic Unit officers of the Force Criminal Investigations Department to effectively apply advanced knowledge acquired at various capacity-building workshops organised in collaboration with foreign agencies and other governmental bodies, ministries, departments, and agencies of governments at all levels.”
The IGP emphasised that these developments were in line with his policing agenda to incorporate the application of cutting-edge technology and intelligence-led policing model to operational and investigation functions in consonance with international best practices.
He equally assured Nigerians of the dedication of his administration to bestowing the nation with a people-oriented, endearing, and professional police force.