The Use Of Ict In Criminal Investigation Processes In Tanzania: A Case Study Of Dodoma Region

ABSTRACT

Usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in criminal investigation processes plays a critical role in management of crime cases, storage and retrieval of complainants‟ as well as offenders‟ information. Such technology helps criminal investigation officers to follow up case status and keep track of information concerning crime cases. Furthermore, ICT facilitates quickly decision making on cases, transparency, cross-referencing and efficient operations of criminal investigations. However, in Tanzania, ICT has not been much used in criminal investigation processes as Tanzania Police Force (TPF) officers mainly conduct investigative activities manually with dominant uses of pens and papers. These manual methods have resulted in problems in the areas of authenticity, security, retrieval and storage. Thus, this research aims to study the uses of ICT in criminal investigation processes at Dodoma region. The study used three main methods in data collection including; literature review, questionnaires and interviews through which data collected from police officers of different ranks. The study revealed that; the use of ICT in criminal investigation processes is very small, only at regional office where ICT has been mostly used. Such poor utilization of ICT in TPF is attributed to acceptance challenge on ICT uses, lack of funds, computer illiterate to investigators, scarcity of ICT resources and poor internet connectivity which is not reliable. Therefore, this study recommends a prototype which is capable to store videos, audios, photographs captured from installed digital cameras, tape recorders, and spy pens in investigation rooms. Furthermore, the prototype is capable to store case files and help supervisors to perform their managerial duties. The prototype and the study therefore, are very important to help criminal investigation processes progress in Dodoma region and Tanzania