The Junior Investigation Officer (JIO) project, launched for the first time in the country in Prakasam to improve the professionalism of Police Chiefs (HCs) and Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs), has produced positive results, said the additional Director General of Police (Training). N. Sanjay.
The project will train law enforcement officers on the ground in techniques required during the investigation, such as: B. gathering evidence at the crime scene or recording the testimony of the witness in accordance with Section Cr.PC. 161 or draw a rough sketch of the crime scene. Prakasam Superintendent of the Police Siddharth Kaushal took the initiative to train a batch of 456 HCs and ASIs in October 2019.
Now, a year and a half after their training, they are investigating cases with confidence on an equal footing with senior investigators, the SP said.
During an evaluation program, the SP reviewed the performance of 62 JIOs attached to the city of Ongole I and the Ongole Taluka Police Station. He was completely satisfied with their performance. The SP had also directed the inspectors to conduct a similar evaluation program in their circles on Wednesdays and to lead the JIOs appropriately from time to time.
Prior to this, all cases were investigated by the sub-inspectors and senior officials. As a result, registration of cases in the district used to be low. Currently 90% of cases are investigated by JIOs and the remaining serious crime-related cases are taken up by senior officials.
So far, the JIOs have registered 15,820 cases in the Prakasam district since the project started. You have started investigations in 15,211 cases, completed 11,998 investigations and submitted a final report to the courts. The rest of the cases are being investigated, he noted, giving them valuable information to help them file charges early on in the pending cases.
SD Hussain, one of the JIOs, recalled that he shied away from investigating cases himself, preferring to do only bandbusting and patrol duties. “Thanks to the JIO project, I am now confident that I will gather the necessary evidence myself in each case and ensure that the accused are convicted in court,” he added with satisfaction.