WO2023144584A1

WO2023144584A1 - Police self-service kiosk, police self-service system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2023144584A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/050719
Authority: WO
Inventors: Abdulla KHALIFA AL MARRI; Khalid NASSER ALRAZOOQI; Hussain AHMED ALI BIN GHELAITA ALMHEIRI; Ahmad MOHAMMAD AHMAD BIN FAHAD ALMHEIRI; Samer AYMAN ALKHAWAJA; Ibrahim GHAZI ALSHAIBANI; Salama MOHAMMED ALHATHBOOR ALFALASI; Khulood YAQUOP ALMARZOOQI; Awatif RASHID SAEED ALSUWAIDI; Amal FADHEL MATAR ALMAZROOEI
Original assignee: Dubai Police General Headquarters
Priority date: 2022-01-27
Filing date: 2022-01-27
Publication date: 2023-08-03

Abstract

The invention relates to a police self-service method collecting a request for a service from a user, collecting user identification information from the user requesting the service; and verifying the user identification information. After the verification of the user identification, the method further comprising the step of generating suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user, collecting the forms upon completion by the user, and approving or validating the filled-out forms.

Description

POLICE SELF-SERVICE KIOSK, POLICE SELF-SERVICE SYSTEM AND METHOD

FIELD OF INVENTION

THIS INVENTION is in the field of self-service kiosks, in particular self-service kiosks in the administrative field, more in particular self-service kiosks for use in the law enforcement department, in particular a smart police station kiosk.

BACKGROUND

Throughout the world, traditionally, police services and processes are often perceived to be lengthy and time consuming. This is often accompanied by feelings of uneasiness and discomfort by the people visiting police stations. Often times these law enforcement organizations are not catered to address all the members of society. As an example, women in the UAE and in general might find visiting the police stations to be traumatic and might even avoid it. Little has been done to address this stigma and wrong perception. Police stations are intended to be at the core of the community, providing the people safety, comfort and helping with their legal issues as swiftly and conveniently as possible. Any police station at its core is intended to provide the community with the best standards of safe living, quick response to emergencies as well as efficient access to legal process and services. The community is not just limited to residents and tourists, but to private companies, institutions and organizations.

Currently, the manner in which civilians obtain public services involves civilians going to public offices or institution, such as the traffic department, that offers a particular service, such as traffic and vehicle related services, and stand in queues, no matter how long, to wait for their turn to be assisted by an agent. On one side, this results in civilians getting frustrated for the lack of imperfect service from the government, on the other side the public offices become bombarded with administrative tasks which can tend to result in backlogs and bad public service.

The invention addresses at least one of the above mentioned problems..

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the invention, there may be provided a self-service method comprising: collecting a request for a service from a user; collecting user identification information from the user requesting the service; verifying the user identification information; wherein after the verification of the user identification, the method further comprising the step of generating/providing suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user; collecting the forms upon completion by the user; and approving or validating the filled-out forms.

The requested service may be a criminal related service including opening a criminal case; reporting of crime; reporting a bounced check; and following up on a bounced check; reporting dementing violence; obtaining home security services; reporting crimes related to human trafficking; enquiring about an existing case; labour complaint services; requesting support or updates on pending cases; reporting refrain payment cases; following up on refrain payment cases; enquiring about financial related cases; reporting cybercrime related cases; following up on cybercrime related cases; request to visit inmates.

In another embodiment, the requested service may be a traffic related service including enquiring about traffic fines; obtaining records of traffic status (such as traffic violations, traffic points); issuing or generation of accident reports; obtaining an authorisation letter to change colour of vehicle; vehicle pounding payment; requesting instalments on fines; request to modify or query fines. In yet another embodiment, the requested service may be a certification and permits related service including applying for good conduct certificate; apply for a certificate for proving certain events or requirements; apply for a certificate for lost items; apply for a certificate for previous traffic status report; apply for a traffic clearance certificate; apply for a certificate to clear deceased persons; apply for a night work permit; apply for a road closure permit.

In yet another embodiment, the requested service may be a community related service including police to secure and police an event; communication by police to the public; submission of complaints to police by tourists; apply for emergency care.

The collected user identification information may include the name and surname of the user as well as an identity number of the user. It also includes the user's emirates ID, mobile number and email address.

The verifying step may include collecting identification data from a plurality of databases, preferably a remote database that is associated with the requested service, and verifying the user identification information to data stored in the remote database. For example, if the requested service is the payment of traffic fines, the database from which the user identification information is collected for verification may be a database of a traffic department.

The step of generating/providing the forms may include locating, from a central database, relevant forms that are associated with the requested service.

The forms may include legal documents such as an affidavit that may be required to be filled by the user.

The step of approving or §validating the filled-out forms may include: receiving the filled out forms; checking, typically by an authorised human agent, the received forms; and generating a suitable message indicating that the forms have either been approved or rejected.

Upon approving or rejecting the forms, the method may include the step of generating a suitable message indicating that the requested service has been approved or rejected. To save the users time, some services may not require human intervention for approval and may be automatically approved/rejected based on the data provided by the user. An example of such service may be reissuing a traffic accident report whereby the user may re-apply for an existing traffic accident report and obtain a copy of the traffic accident report from the system.

The method may further include generating a token with a reference number associated with the approved or rejected requested service.

According to a second aspect of the invention there may be provided a police self- service system comprising: a central processing unit arranged to: collect a request for a service from a user; collect user identification information from the user requesting the service; verify the user identification information; wherein after the verification of the user identification, the central processing unit is further arranged to: generate/provide suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user; collect the forms upon completion by the user; and validate the filled-out forms.

The requested service may be a criminal related services including at least one of opening a criminal case; reporting of crime; reporting a bounced check; and following up on a bounced check; reporting dementing violence; obtaining home security services; reporting crimes related to human trafficking; enquiring about an existing case; labour complaint services; requesting support or updates on pending cases; reporting refrain payment cases; following up on refrain payment cases; enquiring about financial related cases; reporting cybercrime related cases; following up on cybercrime related cases and request to visit inmates.

In an embodiment, the requested service may be a traffic -related service including at least one of enquiring about traffic fines; obtaining records of traffic status (such as traffic violations, traffic points); issuing or generation of accident reports; obtaining an authorisation letter to change colour of vehicle; vehicle pounding payment; requesting instalments on fines; request to modify or query fines.

In yet another embodiment, the requested service may be a certification and permits related service including at least one of applying for good conduct certificate; apply for a certificate for proving certain events or requirements; apply for a certificate for lost items; apply for a certificate for previous traffic status report; apply for a traffic clearance certificate; apply for a certificate to clear deceased persons; apply for a night work permit and apply for a road closure permit.

In an alternative embodiment, the requested service may be a community related service including at least one of police to secure and police an event; communication by police to the public; submission of complaints to police by tourist and apply for emergency care.

The collected user identification information may include the name and surname of the user as well as an identity number and/or passport number of the user.

In verifying the user identification information, the system may be arranged to collect identification data from a plurality of databases, preferably a remote database that is associated with the requested service, and verifying the user identification information to data stored in the remote database. For example, if the requested service is the payment of traffic fines, the database from which the user identification information is collected for verification may be a database of a traffic department.

In generating/providing the forms, the system may be arranged to locate, from a central database, relevant forms that are associated with the requested service.

In validating the filled-out forms, the system may be arranged to: receive the filled out forms; check, typically by an authorised human agent, the received forms; and generate a suitable message indicating that the forms have either been approved or rejected.

Upon approving or rejecting the forms, the system may be arranged to generate a message indicating that the requested service has been approved or rejected.

The system may further be arranged to generate a token, for example a ticket, with a reference number associated with the approved or rejected requested service.

The system may include a central database containing registered information of users authorised or validated to use the system.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there may be provided a self-service station, such as a kiosk, arrange to perform the method hereinbefore described. DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings below:

Figure 1 shows a network incorporating a self-service system in accordance with the invention; and

Figure 2 shows a high level self-service method in accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

While various inventive aspects, concepts and features of the invention maybe described and illustrated herein as embodied in combination in the exemplary embodiments, these various aspects, concepts and features may be used in many alternative embodiments, either individually or in various combinations and subcombinations thereof. Unless expressly exclude herein all such combinations and subcombinations are intended to be within the scope of the present invention. Still further, while various alternative embodiments as to the various aspects, concepts and features of the invention - such alternative structures, configurations, methods, devices and components, alternatives as to form, fit and function, and so on may be described herein, such descriptions are not intended to be a complete or exhaustive list of available alternative embodiments, whether presently known or later developed.

Those skilled in the art may readily adopt one or more of the inventive aspects, concepts or features into additional embodiments and uses within the scope of the present invention even if such embodiments are not expressly disclosed herein. Still further, exemplary or representative values and range may be included to assist in understanding the present disclosure; however, such values and ranges are not to be construed in a limiting sense and are intended to be critical values or ranges only if so expressly, stated. Moreover, while various aspects, features and concepts may be expressly identified herein as being inventive or forming part of an invention, such identification is not intended to be exclusive but rather there may be inventive aspects, concepts and features that are fully described herein without being expressly identified as such or as part of a specific invention.

In accordance with an example embodiment of the invention, there is provided a network 12 that includes a self-service system in accordance with the invention designated generally by reference numeral 10 as shown in figure 1. The self-service system 10 is embodied in the form of a kiosk. The network 12 further includes a plurality of first, second, and third databases 16, 18, 20 which are in communication with each other and the kiosk 10, either directly or indirectly via a communication network 14.

The self-service system 10 may be housed in a kiosk (not shown) that includes a display screen (not shown), an image capturing means (not shown) such as camera, a document reader, such as a document scanner (not shown), biometrics capturing device (not shown) such as retina or fingerprint scanner, a printer (not shown), a document scanner (not shown), a card reader (not shown), a cash dispenser (not shown), and a cash receiver (not shown).

The kiosk (not shown) may be arranged to allow a civilian or user to access services which are ordinarily accessible manually or through interaction with the staff at an administration department, such as an administration department of a police station.

Typically, the user would access the kiosk (not shown) that may be located at the police station (not shown) or any other location. The user would access the kiosk (not shown) and select, on a display screen of the kiosk, the type of service which the user wishes to access.

The requested service may be a criminal related service including opening a criminal case; reporting of crime; reporting a bounced check; and following up on a bounced check; reporting dementing violence; obtaining home security services; reporting crimes related to human trafficking; enquiring about an existing case; labour complaint services; requesting support or updates on pending cases; reporting refrain payment cases; following up on refrain payment cases; enquiring about financial related cases; reporting cybercrime related cases; following up on cybercrime related cases; request to visit inmates. The requested service may be a traffic related service including enquiring about traffic fines; obtaining records of traffic status (such as traffic violations, traffic points); issuing or generation of accident reports; obtaining an authorisation letter to change colour of vehicle; vehicle pounding payment; requesting instalments on fines; request to modify or query fines.

The requested service may be a certification and permits related service including applying for good conduct certificate; apply for a certificate for proving certain events or requirements; apply for a certificate for lost items; apply for a certificate for previous traffic status report; apply for a traffic clearance certificate; apply for a certificate to clear deceased persons; apply for a night work permit; apply for a road closure permit.

The requested service may be a community related service including police to secure and police an event; communication by police to the public; submission of complaints to police by tourists; apply for emergency care.

The system 10 will accordingly receive the request of the service selected by the user and direct the user to a page on the display screen (not shown) to display further information on the display screen (not shown). The system 10 will request the user to provide identification information on the kiosk (not shown). The identification information may be in the form of an identity document which may be required to be scanned by the scanner (not shown) of the kiosk (not shown). In another version, the user may be required to present a fingerprint onto a biometric device scanner (not shown) of the kiosk (not shown) to allow the kiosk (not shown) to capture the fingerprint of the user. Once the fingerprint has been captured, the system 10 may collect fingerprint data from the first database 16 that has fingerprint data from the department of Home Affairs to validate the captured image of the user’s fingerprint in order to determine the identity of the user. In addition, if the requested service, for example, is for the user to have access to her traffic infringements, the user will be required to provide further information such as the user’s license number, car registration and the like. The system 10 may, in addition to validating the identity of the user through the first database 16, may also further validate the information provided by the user such as the license number and registration number of the vehicle in order to verify the user requesting the service. The system 10 may access the second database 18 which contains information that is held by the traffic department in order to validate that the user is associated with the vehicle registration number and license the user has provided on the kiosk.

Once the user has been validated and the information provided has also been validated, the system 10 is arranged to generate suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user. For example, as mentioned above, if the requested service involves traffic infringement, the system 10 may access suitable forms from a database 20 of the system or from a remote database that may contain forms associated with the requested service, and present the forms on the kiosk (not shown), for example on the display screen (not shown) of the kiosk (not shown) to allow the user to fill out blank sections on the forms.

The user may accordingly submit the completed forms on the kiosk (not shown) and the system 10 may be arranged to receive the submitted forms and perform checks on the submitted forms to ensure that all of the blank sections have been filled out by the user. The system 10 may accordingly display on the display screen (not shown) that the forms have been approved, in the event that the blanked-out sections are completed, or may reject the forms if some of the information on the forms has not been filled out and in which case the system 10 may request the user to fill out the blanked sections and resubmit the forms.

In another version of the invention, a human agent may receive the forms submitted by the user through a computing device associated with the human agent in order for the human agent to validate the forms. Similar to the system, the human agent may reject the forms in real time and notify the user that certain sections of the forms have not been filled out or filled out correctly and the user may accordingly attend to the correction of the forms. In yet another version of the invention, the human agent may supervise and instruct the user on how to fill out the forms, and once the forms have been completed the user can submit the forms via the kiosk for processing by the system 10.

Once the forms have been approved, the system 10 is arranged to generate a token with a reference number associated with the approved forms to allow the user to follow up with the administrative task on the requested service. The token may also include information such as the number of days by which the requested service will be attended to by the administration department and the date in which the user can contact the administration department to follow up on the requested service. In one version of the invention, if the requested service is a simple service the data of which is accessible by the system 10, then the requested service will be attended to by the system 10 in real time. For example, if the requested service is to request a report on traffic infringements, the system 10 will be able to, upon approving the submitted forms, provide the user with the traffic infringement report which the system 10 will access through the traffic department database 18. However, if the requested service requires human involvement, for example if the submitted forms, such as affidavits, need to be vetted by a human being, then the requested service may take longer to resolve hence the system 10 generates a reference number to allow the user to follow up with the administration department that can attend to the service requested by the user.

Now turning our attention to Figure 2 of the drawings, there is provided a block diagram that shows a high-level self-service method designated generally by reference numeral 100. The method includes the step of collecting, at block 102, collecting a request for a service from a user. The method 100 further includes the step of collecting, at block 104, user identification information from the user requesting the service. The method 100 further includes the step of verifying, at 106, the user identification information; wherein after the verification of the user identification, the method further comprising the steps of generating/providing, at block 108, suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user; collecting, at block 110, the forms upon completion by the user; and approving or validating, at block 112, the filled-out forms. Applicant believes that the invention as described above will ameliorate some of the problems mentioned in the opening section of the specification.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A self-service method comprising: collecting a request for a service from a user; collecting user identification information from the user requesting the service; verifying the user identification information; wherein after the verification of the user identification, the method further comprising the step of generating/providing suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user; collecting the forms upon completion by the user; and approving or validating the filled-out forms.

2. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the requested service is a criminal related service including opening a criminal case; reporting of crime; reporting a bounced check; and following up on a bounced check; reporting dementing violence; obtaining home security services; reporting crimes related to human trafficking; enquiring about an existing case; labour complaint services; requesting support or updates on pending cases; reporting refrain payment cases; following up on refrain payment cases; enquiring about financial related cases; reporting cybercrime related cases; following up on cybercrime related cases; request to visit inmates.

3. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the requested service is a traffic related service including enquiring about traffic fines; obtaining records of traffic status; issuing or generation of accident reports; obtaining an authorisation letter to change colour of vehicle; vehicle pounding payment; requesting instalments on fines; request to modify or query fines.

4. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the requested service is a certification and permits related service including applying for good conduct certificate; apply for a certificate for proving certain events or requirements; apply for a certificate for lost items; apply for a certificate for previous traffic status report; apply for a traffic clearance certificate; apply for a certificate to clear deceased persons; apply for a night work permit; apply for a road closure permit.

5. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the requested service is a community related service including police to secure and police an event; communication by police to the public; submission of complaints to police by tourists; apply for emergency care.

6. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the collected user identification information includes the name and surname of the user as well as an identity number of the user.

7. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the verifying step includes collecting identification data from a plurality of databases, preferably a remote database that is associated with the requested service, and verifying the user identification information to data stored in the remote database.

8. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the step of generating the forms includes locating, from a central database, relevant forms that are associated with the requested service.

9. The self-service method of claim 8, wherein the forms include legal documents such as an affidavit that may be required to be filled by the user.

10. The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein the step of approving or validating the filled-out forms include: receiving the filled-out forms; checking, typically by an authorised human agent, the received forms; and generating a suitable message indicating that the forms have either been approved or rejected.

11 . The self-service method of claim 1 , wherein after approving or rejecting the forms, the method includes the step of generating a suitable message indicating that the requested service has been approved or rejected.

12. The self-service method of claim 1 , further including generating a token with a reference number associated with the approved or rejected requested service.

13. A self-service police system comprising: a central processing unit arranged to: collect a request for a service from a user; collect user identification information from the user requesting the service; verify the user identification information; wherein after the verification of the user identification, the central processing unit is further arranged to: generate suitable forms associated with the service requested by the user; collect the forms upon completion by the user; and validate the filled-out forms.