ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) and National Police Bureau (NPB) organised a day-long first National Police Summit and Innovation Expo-2018 with an aim to display innovative technologies and evolve new ideas to revolutionise policing system in the country.
Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Interior Minister was chief guest of the ceremony, while Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC and heads of police from all the four provinces, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan including Mr. Shaukat Hayat, Inspector General of Police (IGP), NPB, Dr. Sultan Azam Temuri, IGP Islamabad, AD Khwaja, IGP Sindh Police, Mr. Arif Nawaz, IGP Punjab, Mr. Sabir Ahmad, IGP Gilgit-Baltistan, Mr. Salahuddin, IGP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Moazzam Jah Ansari, IG Balochistan, Shoaib Ahmad, IGP AJK also graced the occasion.
During the ceremony, prizes worth Rs 100,000; Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000 respectively were distributed among the winners of innovation project proposals and innovative ideas. In the innovation project proposals, Bahria University Islamabad clinched the 1st position, while Riphah International University won the 2nd position, and Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad obtained the 3rd position. A total of 112 project proposals were received in the competition. Rawalpindi Medical College won the best idea award in the competition.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ahsan Iqbal said Ahsan Iqbal congratulated HEC and NPB on holding the first ever National Police Summit and Innovation Expo where academia and national police heads gathered under one roof. He said the purpose of summit was to strengthen linkages among government, academia and police. He revealed that universities play a very vital role in coping with the challenges of crime and terrorism. He stated 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 hoped. He said universities, especially the Departments of Psychology, Sociology and Criminology can help decode the minds of criminals.
He observed that policing is one of the oldest functions of the 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 the stakeholders have to play their significant role in ensuring peace. He underlined that policing performs very fundamental role in success of a nation which is why police need to equip themselves with the latest technologies. He underlined that societies are going through transformation and technology, being constructive as well as destructive, has empowered citizens manifold. “Police must be ahead of criminals in use of technologies,” he stressed. He revealed that cybercrime has become one of the key challenges for policing. This requires new competencies to understand and utilise new technologies, he emphasised.
Ahsan Iqbal hoped the next National Police Summit and Innovation Expo will have representation of police departments of friendly countries so that ideas are exchanged for improved policing. He said youth are the next real power of Pakistan, so every department must of youth-centric. He said police can use universities as a strong collaborative platform to interact with youth and protect their lives. He informed the audience that Islamabad police have been directed to exhibit zero tolerance to compromise 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 materialise the concept of community policing. He said the government has established National Database of Criminals which will help identify criminals everywhere in the country. He also launched the e-policing project which includes a citizen App and electronic challan system.