Protect fauna & flora with federated database
Protect fauna & flora with federated database
In the digital age, law enforcement agencies worldwide are evolving strategies to combat crime, moving beyond the reactive approach of solving crimes using solving crimes using conventional databases. However, to anticipate, prevent, control, and monitor criminal activities effectively, a shift towards proactive measures is necessary. Consequently, there is an urgent need for robust crime databases that not only house conventional crime data but also facilitate proactive policing through efficient information and intelligence collection and sharing.
While building such databases for conventional crimes can be complex, the scenario is more straightforward for wildlife crimes due to their narrower scope and distinct characteristics. In 2014, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change initiated efforts to set up wildlife crime units within state/union territory (UT) forest and police departments.
These units aimed to create a system for collecting and collating information and intelligence related to wildlife crime, ultimately leading to the development of state-level wildlife crime databases. WCCB also introduced the Wildlife Crime Database Management System (WLCDBMS) to centralise wildlife crime data from all states/UTs. Despite ongoing efforts, the absence of dedicated wildlife crime units and the lack of seamless information flow from states/UTs to the WLCDBMS pose significant challenges.
The bureau also encouraged state/UT forest departments to share information about criminals convicted of wildlife offenses with the appropriate police stations. However, discrepancies appeared when verifying the criminal records of notorious wildlife offenders, revealing a significant data-sharing gap between police and forest departments. Given the transboundary implications and connections to organised crime, the prevention and control of wildlife crime demand extensive information and intelligence sharing between police, forest departments, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Customs, and even armed forces and central armed police forces. Moreover, each of these agencies keeps its own data on wildlife offenses.
In line with the 2014 advisory by the WCCB, the Government of Tamil Nadu has taken a significant step forward by setting up the Forest and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (TNFWCCB) under the forest department. One of the primary objectives of this bureau is to create and maintain a comprehensive state-level wildlife crime database. A government order in this regard has emphasised the need for adopting advanced information technology practices. This includes collating forest and wildlife crime information in conjunction with relevant agencies such as customs, DRI, police, and other state forest departments. This collaborative approach is crucial for adapting to the evolving nature of wildlife crime and criminal practices.
This initiative represents a significant stride towards proactive wildlife crime prevention in Tamil Nadu, setting a precedent for other states. However, the creation of such a state-level wildlife crime database in TN appears to be a challenging task soon. The police department already has an established system, the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), which is used for everything from case registration to keeping digital records of offenders. In contrast, the forest department does not yet have an equivalent online offence registration system. Even if we were to implement a system like CCTNS for the forest department, it would require a considerable amount of time to digitise the already registered wildlife offences. This implies that each law enforcement agency now owns its independent wildlife crime database.
The existence of these compartmentalised databases poses a significant hurdle to effectively anticipating, preventing, controlling, monitoring, and solving wildlife crime. To bridge this gap, a federated wildlife crime database is imperative. Such a database would pool wildlife crime data, information, and intelligence from various law enforcement agencies, facilitating near real-time sharing and coordinated action. To realise this vision, all law enforcement agencies involved in combatting wildlife crime must unite to formulate a federated wildlife crime database policy.