There has been a marked increase in CCTV detections in Kraaifontein between April and June by the metro police Strategic Surveillance Unit (SSU).
A total of 137 incidents were detected via the camera network in Kraaifontein between January and June.
This breaks down to 11 fires, eight by-law offences, 71 crimes, 46 traffic offences and one traffic report.
Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith last week told TygerBurger that the City’s has observed a downturn in criminal activity in and around the CCTV footprint across the metropole.
“However, due to the integrated approach from the police and the City’s enforcement services, our surveillance teams know where to look and what to observe, thus improving the quality of detections,” he says.
According to Smith, detections in Kraaifontein during this period included the possession of stolen goods, possession of drugs/ narcotics, possession of dangerous weapons and various other by-law and traffic offences, motor vehicle and pedestrian accidents.
Kraaifontein currently has 32 CCTV cameras, with 12 being added in the 2022-’23 financial year courtesy of various funding sources, including ward allocation funding; and at least half a dozen sites that are currently in the planning phase, he says.
Interventions
Citywide, the SSU detected 7 339 incidents, representing a 108% increase compared to the same period the previous year, when 3 524 incidents were detected.
This after the SSU rolled out a number of interventions to better exploit its CCTV infrastructure and introducing area-specific control rooms and improved sharing of information and trends with other enforcement and security agencies.
“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,” says Smith.
He adds that experienced enforcement staff were deployed to the control rooms to help guide operators thus improving work flows around the dispatching of units to an incident, using the integrated Emergency Policing Incident Command (Epic) platform.
“As we fine-tune these processes in the coming months, it is expected that the arrest rate too will increase,” he says.
The locations for the new installations in Kraaifontein were picked in consultation with the police.
“The expansion of our CCTV network and investment in other technologies is but one aspect. So we are also working on expanding digital evidence gathering, storage and analytics into the future, and integrating systems and information not just across departments within the City, but external agencies too. The ideal would be to seamlessly share resources and information as we work towards a common goal of increased safety in our city.”
