Kerala police to conduct audit of CCTV cameras in state

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM :   The police have decided to conduct elaborate auditing of the CCTV cameras installed in public places and major centres which are not under CCTV surveillance will be identified. These spots will be brought under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner with the help of various government agencies and departments. The decision was taken after the police failed to make a breakthrough in many sensational cases owing to lack of vivid CCTV footage.

The probes pertaining to attack on AKG Centre and the recent sexual assault on a lady doctor outside the Museum compound in Thiruvananthapuram had suffered hiccups due to the lack of proper CCTV visuals. As per the directives issued by state police chief Anil Kant, the district police chiefs have been asked to prepare an inventory of the cameras installed by the government departments in their limits.

The details of police cameras, the places they are installed, the status of its functioning etc will be entered in the register. In case of the police cameras, those which are not functioning will be specifically noted and the reason for that will be sought from the officials concerned. The District Crime Records Bureau, the district police control room and the individual police stations will keep the details of the cameras that are collected from the grassroots. Apart from the police cameras, the cameras installed by various other government departments will also be audited.

The local police stations will collect details of the public and private CCTV cameras installed in their limits. The police officers have long been complaining of lack of CCTV cameras hindering the crime investigation. In Thiruvananthapuram city police limits alone, one-third of the police cameras are not functioning. Sources said a similar situation exists throughout the state. “The police during their investigations have to depend on private cameras rather than police cameras. Many of the police cameras are outdated, while maintenance work of the faulty cameras rarely takes place due to issues in the annual maintenance contract,” said a senior officer. To address the situation, the department has decided to initiate swift measures to carry out the maintenance work of the cameras.