Provincial police should become familiar with information technology to ensure accurate, timely recording of crime data, senior officials of the General Commission of National Police said yesterday.

In a meeting at the National Police Headquarters attended by  nearly 100 police from around the country, deputy national police chief Mao Chandara said a lack of IT training resulted in inaccurate records and the late filing of annual crime data from the provinces, despite daily, weekly and monthly deadlines.

“If we are incapable of controlling the data, we will have difficulty in new implementations and our work will not run smoothly,” he said.

Unfamiliarity with computer systems used for updating records had resulted in such inefficient practices as provincial police chiefs sending crime data to national headquarters in hard-copy form.

Another consequence was inaccuracy during the recording and classifying of crimes in the national police database online.

Provincial police chiefs responded by appealing for training measures to be put in place, such as sending IT specialists to the provinces and holding seminars.

Kandal provincial police chief Eav Chamroeun requested that anti-virus software be installed for his office’s computers, as he was nervous that the system would be infected.

Cambodian Centre for Human Rights president Ou Virak welcomed the highlighting of this issue.

“This will help the local police. Training is a technical matter: the government just needs to see the problem and make the right investment.”