The roll out of CCTV cameras will continue during the 2023/2024 financial year in Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Nyanga and Kraaifontein, in efforts to reduce public area crimes.
During the 2022/2023 financial year, new installations valued at more thatn R33 million included five sites in Harare, Khayelitsha, with 15 cameras; as well as installations in Hanover Park, Manenberg, Mitchell’s Plain, Ocean View, Lotus Park, Parow and Goodwood, with added surveillance to the infrastructure of both Nolungile and Nonqubela stations.
The City said its Metro Police Strategic Surveillance Unit (SSU) had rolled out a number of interventions to better exploit its CCTV infrastructure, including introducing area-specific control rooms and improved sharing of information and trends with other enforcement and security agencies.
Between April and June 2023, the SSU detected 7 339 incidents, including crime, vandalism, motor vehicle accidents, fires and other miscellaneous incidents.
Among the reasons for an increase in incidents was the installation of additional cameras in areas like Bishop Lavis, Delft, Nyanga, Mitchells Plain and Kraaifontein; and the introduction of satellite CCTV control rooms in Retreat, Ocean View and Grassy Park, with local Neighbourhood Watch (NW) members monitoring the cameras for quick responses to detections by NW groups, SAPS and City enforcement agencies, the City said.
The SSU has grown its CCTV infrastructure to more than 1 100 installations.
In one of the most recent projects, a dozen cameras have been installed at various points along Baden Powell Drive, to the value of R4.2 million, and will go live soon.
The roll-out of cameras will continue in the five identified areas that require CCTV in order to reduce public area crimes – Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Delft, Nyanga and Kraaifontein.
The locations for the installations were picked in consultation with the SAPS, the City said.
“Apart from the growing camera network, our SSU has put in a lot of work to extract more value from its camera network. Thanks to improved information sharing with local police stations, our CCTV operators can do more effective monitoring in the right areas, and at the right times,” said safety and security mayco member JP Smith.
“We’ve also introduced refresher training for operators, and deployed experienced enforcement staff to the control rooms to help guide operators, and we have implemented improved work flows around the dispatching of units to an incident, using our integrated Emergency Policing Incident Command platform.
“As we fine-tune these processes in the coming months, it is expected that the arrest rate will increase.”
Cape Times