Chennai: Continuing his campaign to bring Chennai under 100 per cent CCTV coverage and thus ensuring better results in the prevention and detection of crime city police commissioner AK Vishwanathan on Tuesday switched on an ambitious project bringing the busy Pallavaram under the network.
He renewed his appeal to the citizens, traders and establishments traders and establishments to install CCTV cameras that are no longer expensive and at the same time, contribute multifold to the city's safety. City police commissioner A.K.Vishwanathan advised the public to install cameras outside their shops and houses while inaugurating 1014 CCTV cameras in Pallavaram and St Thomas Mount police station limits. He said the number of crimes had come down considerably wherever closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are functioning.
“We appeal to the public to install a camera outside their homes or shops. By this, we can cover 80 per cent of the areas,” Viswanathan said. The government will extend assistance to set up CCTV cameras in public places, to cover the remaining 20 per cent, he added.
Some areas where CCTVs aren't installed, the footage are collected from cameras nearest to it, he said. “This footage would help in quick and conclusive detection of crimes by the police,” he said.
After Porur, the Greater Chennai police has brought Pallavaram and St. Thomas Mount jurisdiction police under the surveillance and in Pallavaram police station limits, the cameras have been set up at important places, the footage from which can be viewed at a control room. Each camera with four mega-pixel configurations can cover a distance 200 metres day and night.
Police sources said that it would be helpful for the inspector to monitor the situation in real time, said police personnel attached to Pallavaram police station limit. The commissioner inaugurated a similar set up at Porur on Sunday. This is part of the Greater Chennai Police's ongoing campaign to bring the entire city under CCTV surveillance for better maintenance of law and order and to deter offenders.
