‘Third eye’ makes policing easier in Hyderabad

Police officials say CCTV cameras play a major role in prevention of crime and identification of criminals

Hyderabad: The phrase often used by the Hyderabad City Police, ‘One surveillance camera is equal to a hundred policemen,’ is proving right for the law enforcing agency in every way. From acting as a deterrent to criminals intending to commit crimes to detection of cases within a span of hours, the third eye is making policing easier.

Since the formation of the State, the government had been keen in revamping the Police Department in order to provide a safe haven to citizens, particularly women and children. As part of the ‘Safe City Project’, the CCTV project was also taken up aiming to install about 10 lakh cameras across Hyderabad.

There have been several incidents, where cameras proved helpful in crime detection including the one a few days ago, when a gang of pickpockets flicked wallets and phones from people during a funeral in Langar Houz.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said about 3.75 lakh surveillance cameras have been installed under the Community CCTV Project and under the ‘Nenu Saitham’ initiative until now, covering all police station limits across the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate.

“CCTV cameras are also a main reason why Hyderabad is considered a safe city,” he said, adding that according to an international survey, the city ranked 16th in the world in the installation of CCTV cameras. He also pointed out that CCTV cameras play a major role in prevention of crime and identification of criminals.

“We are able to solve many sensational cases only because of these surveillance cameras, hence we are focusing on installation of more CCTV cameras under all police stations in the commissionerate limits,” he said.

Nearly 70% of crimes being detected with CCTV footage: Bhagwat

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh M Bhagwat said that almost 100 per cent recovery of stolen goods was made possible with the help of CCTV cameras. CCTV cameras have become an important aspect of modern day policing and almost 70 per cent of the crimes in the commissionerate are being detected with CCTV footage collected from the crime spot.
The commissionerate has about 1.5 lakh surveillance cameras, installed both under Community CCTV project and Nenu Saitham programme.

“In the recent past, cases including snatching, house burglary and robberies were detected with the help of CCTV footage,” Bhagwat said, urging citizens to come forward to install more cameras in their colonies and surroundings for making a safer Rachakonda.

Cyberabad Police aim to install 2.5 lakh cameras by year-end

The Cyberabad Police, which covers the majority of the Information Technology corridor, National Highways and the Outer Ring Road network are aiming to install 2.5 lakh surveillance cameras by this year-end. The Cyberabad Police currently has about 1.4 lakh surveillance cameras including those under the Community CCTV project and ‘Nenu Saitham’ initiative.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said criminals now deter to commit offences in the city and there have been instances of gangs migrating to other States because of the fear of the law. Sajjanar said the aim was to take the number up to 2.5 lakh CCTV cameras by the end of 2021. For this, he urged corporate companies to come forward and donate towards the CCTV project.

“Now, all the donations made to CCTV project are considered as CSR projects. The maintenance of the CCTVs is now being taken up internally and we do not have to depend on external help. We have trained constables in this area. They are very efficient and competent enough to handle any problems,” he said.