The installation works for the newly acquired Closed Circuit Television( CCTV) cameras has reached 60%, police has said.
Following the brutal murder of AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi, together with his bodyguard and driver by unknown assailants in Kulambiro, a Kampala suburb in March 2017, President Museveni ordered for installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras along major highways, towns and cities all over the country to help curb crime.
Addressing a weekly press briefing at the police headquarters in Naguru, deputy police spokesperson, Polly Namaye said a bigger percentage of the installation work for the CCTV cameras has been done as the first phase is nearing its end.
“The first phase of the CCTV project is intended to cover surveillance systems for Kampala Metropolitan Area whereas phase two is to cover municipalities, highways and towns. The total number of cameras to be installed is 3233 and so far 60%(1940) of these have been installed,”Namaye said.
She said that they have so far covered an areas of 795.37 kilometres with fibre optic cables which are crucial for the CCTV cameras.
According to Namaye, as part of the first phase of the CCTV camera project, police divisions including Katwe, Central Police Station in Kampala, Old Kampala, Jinja road, Wandegeya, Kajjansi, Nansana, Entebbe, Wakiso, Kawempe, Kira and Kasubi have been connected.
Successes
The police spokesperson said since the installation works started, they have continued to record successes in terms of fighting criminality using the CCTV cameras.
“So far, with the help of these cameras, we have had successes in 27 incidents around CPS in Kampala, eight incidents around Katwe, six around Old Kampala and seven incidents around Wandegeya,”Namaye said.
She noted that if the installation works are fully done, the success stories will increase as the crime rate goes down.
Police use newly installed CCTV cameras to arrest thieves in Kampala
“These installations will aid us in investigations of crimes and prosecution of offenders,” the police publicist said.
Using footage from the CCTV cameras, Police in Kampala arrested two people suspected of stealing a phone from a passenger in a taxi early this year.
A 34 second recording from one of the Pan Tilt Zoom(PTZ) cameras that rotates and views 360 degrees showed an unknown youth snatching a phone from one of the passengers in a taxi near Shoprite.
The video went viral on social media.
Police used footage from the CCTV camera to help trace and arrest 17 year old Essau Nduhukire.
“It is upon that video that we were able to race and arrest him and divulged details about his colleagues,” Kampala Metropolitan Area police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire said in January.
. Speaking during the New Year address early this week, President Museveni underscored the use of CCTV cameras in fighting criminality around the country.
“We have been working systematically to resolve the issue of the artificial eyes in the cities, towns and highways and of improved forensic systems. This new year will see us close those gaps forever,”Museveni said.
Construction of the National Command and ICT Research and Innovation under the CCTV Project is ongoing at the Police headquarters in Naguru.
Currently, a temporary National Command Centre is housed at Nateete police station.
The deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj.Gen.Muzeeyi Sabiiti recently said they would integrate private CCTV cameras into the national grid.
“It is in plant to integrate private infrastructure.It is being discussed and in future we can integrate them but for now we should be able to use the available infrastructure,”Muzeeyi told the Nile Post in in an interview.
The newly installed CCTV cameras are of two types including the fixed and Pan Tilt Zoom(PTZ) cameras and are able to rotate and view 360 degrees.
The cameras also have a feature of automatic number plate recognition for reading number plates including those for motorcycles.
The CCTV cameras also have a facial recognition feature, night vision, Global Positioning System (GPS) and automatic cleaning system.
