SECURITY Minister Horace Chang was taken aback on Thursday when he learnt that despite a multimillion dollar digitisation of key operations at the Criminal Records Office on Duke Street in downtown, Kingston, people applying for police records have to wait in long lines on the outside for hours.

Dr Chang, who was led on a tour of the office on Thursday morning, noted that staff has to deal with overwhelming amounts of documents in this era of advanced technology.

More than US$5 million was expended to help modernise the Criminal Records Office and transform it from the previous automated, fingerprint and palm identification system to a multi-biometric identification system, however, the crowd problem continues.

“The demand for this kind of record has increased almost exponentially in recent times, traditionally for those seeking expungement but more critically for work spaces. People are going overseas to work, people are working in the local business outsourcing services. An increased number of employers in Jamaica require individuals to have their records identified,” said Chang.

“Demand on the system is extremely high and you can see from outside there is a huge crowd, and individuals would have reported coming near the office from four and five o’clock in the morning. There is much to be done. There are still a lot of manual activities here. There are a huge number of files, and I don’t think that we have enough building spaces to file all the paper. All these have to be brought into the 21st century and digitised,” added Chang.

He said the ultimate plan is to have the documents digitised because, as it stands, it was unfair to subject people to uncomfortable circumstances while they wait.

“We need to get off that level where employees have to walk in a room looking for paper files. Even though you know where to find the files, it is a big demand on the staff while those most in need end up crowding outside. For a service that is so crucial and critical, we cannot, as a Government, treat those citizens like that. We will take steps to correct that.

“We came to take a physical look. We have upgraded the actual fingerprint search data system, but to see what else can be done to improve the efficiency and therefore reduce the pressures on those who are coming in, and also on the officers who are working here. They are working hard and doing a tremendous job,” said Chang.

Acting director of the Major Technology Transformation Branch in the Ministry of National Security Emile Holgate sought to assure people waiting outside that the security ministry was working with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to set up some processes online as a response to the crowding.

“… The public will have to be a part of it once we migrate some of the processes online to make the end-to-end process a lot more efficient,” said Holgate.