South Africa. Gauteng. Johannesburg. Metro and Johannesburg Police get new more sophisticated CCTV Cameras to catch and monitor criminals 24 hrs from their offices.
Joburg’s CCTV cameras have been going “unwatched” after contract issues
Prosecuting crime has been made a lot more difficult. Joburg’s CCTV cameras have been left unused after contract issues with a service provider.
South Africa. Gauteng. Johannesburg. Metro and Johannesburg Police get new more sophisticated CCTV Cameras to catch and monitor criminals 24 hrs from their offices.
The CCTV crime prevention system in Joburg has been left “useless” after the city failed to find a new contract agreement with a monitoring company. The cameras had helped crime levels decrease in the heart of Johannesburg.
MoneyWeb reports that the cameras are now “virtually unmonitored” following the contract issues and the relocation of the control room.
Reports show no recordings are being made even though these recordings are “crucial” in prosecuting crime caught on camera.
The system includes the CCTV cameras Herman Mashaba installed in the iconic Vilikazi Street Soweto. The aim was for the cameras to reduce crime in the area packed with tourists trying to get a look at where Nelson Mandela Winnie Mandela and Desmond Tutu lived.
MoneyWeb enquired about the system to stakeholder manager, Luyanda Longwe in the office of the MMC for public safety Michael Sun.
He says that the City is working on finding a new service provider.
“Services of OMEGA Risk Solutions came to an end on April 31. The contract termination date was April 31, No contract is currently in place and the city is in the process with a bid specification process to go out on tender. The IOC centre is managed and monitored by members of JMPD and once we go out on tender the city will appoint a successful service provider to maintain the system. The system assist are officers identifying possible crime in areas were cameras are placed. This is based on stats received from SAPS.” (sic)
The IOC referred to is the Intelligent Operations Centre at the metro police headquarters in Martindale , where it moved earlier this year.
Even though Longwe says the metro police officers monitor the cameras, Moneyweb and their sources are adamant that is not true. The publication says they saw a live feed from the IOC and saw that only one of the 29 consoles was manned. No supervisors were spotted on sight either.
With cameras commonly being vandalised, not having any one to maintain them is a huge problem. While there may be conflicting reports here, let’s hope the City can find a new service prover quickly.
