CCTV upgrade to curb traffic, law-&-order issues across Kolkata

KOLKATA: Over 1,300 CCTV cameras set up by the traffic police are back in operation across the city after being shut down for 48 hours for server maintenance. The police said they were now better equipped to handle not only traffic violations, but also tackle law-and-order issues and detect crimes. The CCTV cameras themselves have also been cleaned across all 25 traffic guards so that the footage captured is clearer.

“The server maintenance was long pending and we are happy with the results,” said an officer at Lalbazar.

Police sources claimed that video feed from roads will now be easier to store and real-time reactions will become faster. “We have long realized that technology is the way forward at a time when we are short of manpower. The present upgrade has been carried out keeping the present-day challenges in mind,” said an IPS officer.
The officers on the ground — sergeants and traffic constables — said the biggest challenge so far has been identifying vehicles from grainy footage. “While maintaining the CCTVs is our duty, augmenting the server capacity will help with storing and analysing footage of events and accidents, and also traffic pressure at the crossings,” said an officer from the Beliaghata Traffic Guard.
The police claim that such cameras would help in reading number plates clearly even during peak traffic hours. Unless a number plate can be read clearly, challenging of traffic challans will continue. Similarly, the cops can build a bank of real-time footage of violators who can be better prosecuted.
“We will ensure that almost all challans that we send through SMS will have adequate CCTV footage as evidence,” said an IPS officer.
But there is also another reason — cops are looking to use the CCTV cameras to solve the law-and-or-der problem.
At present, there are 2-megapixel cameras installed at most of the crucial intersections, but officers of the city’s traffic police realized that video footage of better quality are required for better detection of crime and to keep a watch on a situation that may lead to law-and-order trouble. As a result, steps have been taken to replace the existing ones with 5-megapixel cameras. The upgrade process has already begun.
Police sources maintained that, ideally, they want CCTV cameras to be able to read the number plates even at night. “The most important idea is to create a deterrent that will stop criminals from carrying out the crimes,” an officer said.
The cops cite the example of Behala. Located in the southern fringes of the city, CCTV camera was an alien concept here until it was included in the Kolkata Police jurisdiction. The local police have now set up 35 sets of CCTV cameras, besides one at almost every crossing set up by the traffic police. “We are approaching individuals and traders establishments who have CCTV cameras at their establishments so that they can share their feed with ours,” said an officer.