CCTV cameras to be up in city by July

Government is hoping to install the promised closed circuit television cameras around Georgetown by July/ August, Dr Roger Luncheon, said on Wednesday.

He made the comment while addressing members of the media at his weekly post- Cabinet media briefing.

Luncheon, who is also Cabinet secretary and head of the Presidential Secretariat, said the recent upsurge in criminal activities should not be used as an electoral issue during the upcoming general elections, like is the case in other Caribbean nations.

Luncheon said that crime was an ongoing challenge for the administration.

Elections are expected before the year is out, and government, he said, is working to boost the security sector to fight crime.

Luncheon added that the crime-fighting is of prime importance to the government.

He further stated that information collected so far has shown that most crimes are gun-related.

The Cabinet secretary said that, despite the challenges, many interventions have been made to combat the scourge. “We now have more reliance on intelligence- led operations… this eventually brings a greater impact and effect on law enforcement.” He went on to say that, along with the provision of resources and a concerted effort to regain public trust, are major interventions government has made.

CCTV cameras

Another major intervention that is still in the pipeline is the installation of the CCTV system in urban areas.

This project is expected to be complete by August 2011. The Cabinet secretary said government anticipates that the presence of the cameras, which will be able to record images and videos and transmit them to central quarters for storage, ” would have a significant impact on the ingress and egress in economic areas,” as well as major thoroughfares, bus parks and business places.

The headquarters for the monitoring and storage of the footage gathered will be situated in the building of the National Intelligence Centre. The tower and transmission lines will connect the headquarters to other monitoring stations as well, so that the footage can be easily accessible in the prevention of a crime or prosecution.

For Georgetown, the cameras would extend up to a certain part of the East Coast of Demerara as well as the East Bank of Demerara, Luncheon said.

Asked about police presence on the streets to beat back bandits, Dr Luncheon said that ranks are expected to have a stronger presence, in addition to the cameras.

However, he stressed the need for better and continued involvement of community policing groups. This, he said, would ensure and maintain an effective means of communication between officers on the ground and those that are coordinating a course of action in the bases.

The introduction of CCTV cameras has been in the pipeline since 2008, when government announced that it is offering duty-free concessions to the private sector for the cameras, and said it will play a vital role in ensuring that they are implemented in public areas.