Pune police geotagging private CCTV cameras across city to enhance vigil

Pune: A project has been initiated by the Pune city police to geotag and identify privately owned CCTV cameras across different areas that focus on public locations, in an effort to aid their investigations into various crimes, ranging from burglaries to sexual assault or hit-and-run cases.Pune commissioner of police (CP) Amitesh Kumar issued the orders late in Jan this year to identify all privately owned CCTV cameras aimed at public roads and spaces, installed by shops, malls, and other commercial establishments, as well as in residential complexes. Internally placed cameras are not being covered by this initiative.A team from the CP's office alongside representatives from local police stations are currently studying CCTV cameras aimed at city roads and have been taking down their locations. Within some weeks, the police have already geotagged over 2,000 privately owned CCTV cameras. Areas being covered under this exercise include Deccan, Camp, Sahakarnagar, Shivajinagar, Aundh-Baner, Kharadi, and more.Assistant commissioner of police (ACP-communication and IT) Vivek Pawar told TOI on Sunday, "We will geotag the CCTV cameras that focus on public roads to enhance our surveillance. We can monitor crimes taking place in these public locations, as well as traffic violations, which will include hit-and-run cases."Besides listing the camera locations, the police are also noting the backup time of each one's digital video recorder (DVR), as some retain data for a month, while others do so for three months. Other listed details will include contacts of those in possession of the gadgets and technical details of the cameras, like their make and whether they can work during night hours or only in daytime.Pawar added, "Information about these geotagged cameras will be shared with all police stations. Right now, if a crime takes place, police search for CCTV cameras in the area and then contact their respective owners to get the footage. This listing exercise will reduce such time taken during an investigation, and police can quickly contact operators of privately owned CCTV cameras to get footage urgently. This will help police identify suspects involved in crimes speedily and track their movements. This includes crimes against women, vehicle thefts, and more. We will also be able to trace vehicles involved in hit-and-run cases."A list of cameras and their owners or operators has already been shared with several local police stations, which will be added to, said the police. Their teams aim to add a total of over 3,000 cameras to this list under this particular project. If required, more CCTVs will be geotagged in the system thereafter.At present, the state home department has set up a network of around 2,000 CCTV cameras in the city to aid the police. Also keeping an eye are 3,000-odd cameras of Pune Metro, and at least 450 cameras of the Smart City Mission.The new initiative to add private cameras to the list will enhance the police vigil.Commenting on the latest initiative, advocate Gaurav Jachak told TOI, "It is a good idea. However, the police must ensure that these geotagged cameras function properly, too. The police can regularly check with their owners if they are operational or not. If these cameras are functioning regularly, they will generate a good amount of evidence in cases, and could also be a deterrent against cases of molestation and small thefts."