KOCHI: Crimes and criminals have attained much sophistication and gone high-tech in most cases, but the Kerala Police are way behind in devising techniques to combat them. This is because they are still continuing with a training module prepared in 1969. The Kerala Police Training Module has not been updated even once during all these years. The ‘Kerala Police Manual,’ which forms the basis for training policemen in the state, was compiled by Inspector-General M Gopalan in 1969. The manual contains all Acts and provisions according to the law, detailed information about the police administration and a detailed history. Along with this, there are instructions on various aspects, including effective probing of crime cases and criminal issues and lessons on maintaining order in the state. The manual was so well written that even Justice V R Krishna Iyer termed it as a complete and perfectly written book.But ever since its preparation, no police official has even attempted to update the manual. Many in the force feel that it is high time the book is modified as there are allegations that the force lacks professionalism and that it is politically influenced and many officers get arrested or suspended. It’s clear that the manual doesn’t cover what the modern police require. “The crimes in 1969 and 2011 are very different and the book has to be updated. Top officials have never attempted to modify it. One of the major problems is that most policemen have no knowledge about high-tech and cyber crimes. Also, many of them don’t know anything about police Acts and the Indian Penal Code. So there should be modifications in the course and the book,” a top police official said.Interestingly, there’s a major road block to modifying the manual. As of now, no one in the police force is capable enough to rewrite the manual by incorporating the present-day requirements.Jose George, Director, Kerala Police Academy, said that it is time to modify the module. “The Kerala Police manual is a well-written book. Recently, the Goa Police planned to adopt our manual. However, time has come to update the book as criminals have gone high-tech and are operating with advanced gadgets. Some changes were made in the past, but it requires more changes,” Jose George said.
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