The closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the Ravi Toll Plaza on GT Road would only monitor traffic at two incoming lanes – leaving the remaining two incoming and all four outgoing lanes unchecked.
Sources in the police department said that two of the six CCTV cameras were installed on the incoming lanes. These, they said, were positioned such that they would record the number plates of the incoming vehicles which would then be matched with Excise Department data saved at a computer in the monitoring post. They said that of the remaining four cameras, two each were installed on each side of the toll plaza on its roof. These would provide a distant view of the traffic and would be of little use in detecting if the vehicle was stolen or not.
The officials said that traffic could still move in and out of the city without being checked through the two incoming and four outgoing lanes that had no cameras.
He said that there was no mechanism to stop vehicles suspected to be stolen. They said that there was a police post for the incoming traffic at some distance from the toll plaza but it was well outside the range of the two cameras meant to record the number plates of the vehicles. They said a post would have to be established on the other side of the toll plaza so that whenever a vehicle entering the city was found suspect it could be stopped over there.
They said that at present a small container placed some distance off GT Road was being used to monitor the recordings of the cameras. It had an LCD screen with footage from all six cameras and a computer with the database of the number plates, they said. A constable and a computer operator had been deployed at the post.
The officials said that the only way to catch a stolen vehicle at present was by calling the Emergency 15 police. This, they said, was unworkable because by the time the Emergency 15 would reach the spot the vehicle would have covered a long distance inside the city.
The officials said the project should have been inaugurated only after all eight lanes at the toll plaza were covered with CCTV cameras.
SSP (Operations) Faisal Rana told The Express Tribune a proper monitoring cell would soon be established and a mechanism put in place to catch stolen vehicles. He said the six CCTV cameras were installed as a pilot project of the Safe City Project. The plan, he said, was to monitor all entry points of the city through similar CCTV cameras.
He said the main office of the monitoring cell would be established at Qila Gujjar Singh which would get a live feed from cameras at all entry points of the city.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Muhammad Aslam Tareen inaugurated the six CCTV cameras on Saturday.
He told the media that under the Safe City Project cameras would soon be installed at all eight entry points of the city. Also, he said, CCTV cameras should also be installed at banks, money changers’ offices, petrol pumps, industrial units and prominent commercial areas of the city.
Tareen said people hiring guards for security duties should get clearance from the area police. He said installation of CCTV cameras at all major commercial centres could help bring down the crime rate.
He sought the cooperation of traders and media for the police to improve its performance. He directed police officials to enhance surveillance of the crowded places in the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 18th, 2011.
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