JOIN USThe City police will soon bring more areas of Bengaluru under CCTV camera surveillance to prevent crimes and enhance convictions. The process to procure 679 CCTV cameras, 579 for law and order wing and 100 for traffic wing is on. The cameras will be functional in another two months. City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood says Bengaluru needs to have more CCTV cameras to help the law enforcers track down suspects and prevent crimes. “Content generated by CCTV cameras provide inputs for post-incident analysis, which may lead to detection of cases," he explains. Sood is convinced that CCTV cameras will act as deterrence to crimes. He elaborates: “Just a caution line reading ‘the entire area is under CCTV surveillance’ helps in crime-prevention.”
The number of cases being reported, especially those related to molestation, has gone up due to CCTV camera footages. “Molestations occurred in the past and occur even now. However, most cases would go unreported in the past. Thanks to CCTV footage which has evidence value, more cases are now being reported. Undoubtedly, CCTV cameras have increased evidence value, deterrence value and registration of cases,” Sood points out. Integration of CCTV cameras installed by government and private agencies under one roof for monitoring requires huge financial resources. The CCTV cameras installed by the City police have been integrated. These, he explains, are monitored constantly at three places- Traffic Management Centre, Command Centre at Commissioner’s office and at a few police stations. Sood does not agree that CCTV cameras are not properly maintained. “Cameras become obsolete very fast due to strides in technology. The traffic police installed 179 CCTV cameras in 2008 which are obsolete now. The life span of those cameras was seven years and the police are using them even after nine years.”
There was no HD technology a decade ago. Hence, the images generated by such cameras are not clear. “The 679 CCTVs to be added shortly are high definition cameras. Even these will soon become obsolete. It is a constant process of upgrading and replacement,” Sood points out. One major challenge, according to Sood, are the dark stretches of roads with CCTV cameras. “Our biggest problem is poorly lit areas where we have CCTV cameras. Crimes thrive in darkness. We may instal more cameras, but the initiative will go in vain if there is darkness,” he notes. The police have taken up the issue with the BBMP authorities and have requested them to ensure proper streetlighting in poorly-lit areas. “The Home Department Secretary has directed BBMP authorities to ensure lighting facility immediately. The BBMP has decided to instal LED lights in all poorly-lit areas in the City at the earliest,” the Commissioner states.