Security cameras : Karachi’s streets no longer safe havens for camera shy criminals

President Zardari inaugurates the first phase of the Karachi video surveillance project.

KARACHI: Criminals now have more to beware of than just dogs. The first phase of a project to install CCTV cameras at various spots across the city has been inaugurated and testing has shown that it works wonders.

President Asif Ali Zardari inaugurated the project’s first phase at the Chief Minister House on Friday. Those present at the occasion included Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and officials from law enforcement agencies.

Shah told the president that the Karachi Video Surveillance System was planned in 2009. A team of police officers was tasked with studying video surveillance models used by the police departments in London, Istanbul and UAE.

The chief minister added that because of the costs, the government has decided to implement the project in phases. Around Rs690 million have been allocated for the first phase.

Around 164 spots across the city have been identified where five cameras will be installed on a pole. The system would be supported by a state-of-the-art data centre with the capacity to store 45 days worth of footage. It will also have a video forensics lab where the footage can be analysed using the latest technology.



A central command control centre, built to international standards, and regional centres have been established to handle the surveillance system. The system has already been successfully tested during various events in the city, including Ashura.

The system would also include the facility of vehicle number plate recognition at various locations and satellite-based handheld devices linked to police data. About 100 vehicle-mounted cameras with live feeds to the command and control centre will also patrol the streets.  In phase two of the project, CCTV cameras will be set up at more spots, smaller command centres will be built with links to police stations and the capacity of the data centre will be increased.



The president appreciated the Sindh Police’s efforts to launch the project in Karachi, hoping that the system would help improve the city’s volatile law and order situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2012.