Information Hiding and Digital Transformation: Strategies for First Information Reports (FIR) and Police Records

Abstract

Throughout the last few years, it has become increasingly obvious that everything is moving from a traditional world to a digital one. In order for police organizations to remain competitive, they need to keep up with the rapid technological advancements that are taking place in order to stay ahead of the competition. The First Information Report (FIR) in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries is a legal document which provides police with information about an apparent crime which has been reported to them by the victims of crimes. It is part of the police's investigation process. The police still have a difficult time getting accurate information from victims in terms of what exactly occurred during the incident, which makes getting accurate information from them very difficult. The filing of a police report presents a wide range of challenges as far as police organizations are concerned. There is a major challenge in the investigation of crimes involving victims concealing information about critical knowledge subsets and the complexity of these sets from the police authorities. For police records to be managed effectively it requires an organisational transformation that is driven by well-established digital strategies that offer an overall view and full transparency of both the knowledge about FIRs as well as the access to them. There is no doubt that an organization such as a police force cannot underestimate the importance of adopting the right technologies and frameworks as part of its digital transformation strategy in order to be able to meet the needs of its customers. The challenge of solving the long-standing problem of police organizations with limited resources concealing knowledge is going to be a long-term task that can be quite challenging. This paper presents several strategies and best practices which can be adopted by law enforcement organizations so that they can successfully transform digitally and achieve their goals through the implementation of these strategies and best practices.