Mumbai Police set to launch an online programme for those who fear approaching them to report a crime

You have just seen one man stab another to death.

What would you do?

a) Report it at the nearest police station

or

b) Prefer to remain silent and safe

If you selected the second option, you'll know why the police department is forced to abandon some cases. Now, you have another choice. Report a crime or submit critical information online. Forget eye-witness; you can now be an e-witness!

A number of police departments in India have created their own sites. The Delhi Police site allows a person to provide information about any stolen or unclaimed vehicle. The Karnataka Police site provides a 'search stolen vehicle' option. The Andhra Pradesh Police department has a system called e-cops, where all stations are linked through an Intranet.

While these sites offer comprehensive information and may even allow you to provide information about stolen vehicles, the Mumbai Police department will be the first one to initiate the unique e-witness programme in a month's time.

Additional Commissioner of Police, SM Sayyed, reveals details on this interesting effort. The main reason for setting up such a site, according to Sayyed, is to remove fear from people's minds. "People are afraid of us and hesitate to come to the police station. They turn to the police as the last resort. I hope through this initiative, this situation will change."

Keying in the undisclosed URL into his laptop, he says that the new site will have two sections  – an Intranet and a public section. The latter will have many features, one of which will be the submission of any relevant information online.

He explains, "There will be an online form where you can submit any information you want, to the police. Maybe there is someone in your locality who is behaving suspiciously or you have information about a crime that has taken place. Often people have information but hesitate to come to us. They may be more comfortable with this medium."

People will also have the choice of reporting a crime online using a similar form. Moreover, they will be able to check the status of their crime report.

Both these forms will have a field where their address and other details have to be filled in. However, there will be an option. A witness can choose to be contacted by the police or opt for 'do not disclose my contact information'. In the latter case, the information will be stored in the police's confidential files and the person will not be contacted.

But the anonymity of the medium makes the system susceptible to misleading information and hoaxes. This increases the burden on the police force. Sayyed explains how they plan to tackle this problem: "If we think it is a prank or a hoax, we will ignore it. If not we will verify it. The purpose is to we get any information that might help us in our work."

The site will have other channels like general information, a hierarchy chart, a missing persons bureau and a list of wanted criminals. He says: "I want to eradicate the fear that people have of policemen. There will be profiles of every police officer, his photograph, qualifications and credentials. People should at least know how their policemen look."

The public section of the site will be complemented by an Intranet that will be used to call for reports or to pass information. This is similar to the e-cops initiative. "The Intranet will ensure connectivity within the police department. It will speed up things, if any police station needs any information quickly," says Sayyed.

However, police officials are yet to be completely hooked to the concept. Rajkumar Adav, PA to SM Sayyed, when probed about the use of the Internet in police stations, says, "We have the facility, but are not yet familiar with it."

Sayyed is optmistic, "They (the police officials) can be taught. In fact, our men are already in the process of being trained. Once complete, the e-witness programme will definitely take off."

When asked about whether people will take to the idea of reporting a crime online, he smiles and throws the question back. "What do you think?"

It's now over to the citizens of Mumbai.