Damaged CCTV cameras prevent quick identification of criminals
Whenever there’s an incident like murder, mugging, theft and robbery, the first thing law and order enforcement agencies do now is to collect the closed circuit (CC) camera footage of the crime scene and surrounding areas.
They then analyse the footages and try to identify the criminals as fast as possible. However, the police are facing trouble in quick detection of criminals as the CC cameras in different areas of the capital are damaged.
CC cameras are effective in controlling criminal activities as well, state the police officials. They say that the criminals usually try to vandalise the CC cameras before committing any crime.
One of the main reasons for doing that is to ensure that the criminals cannot be identified quickly with the help of the technology. At the same time, they make sure that nobody possesses any video footage of the crime. The shortage of adequate and effective CC cameras is a significant factor behind the current surge of crime in the capital.
CC cameras are effective in controlling criminal activities as well, states the police officials. They say that the criminals usually try to vandalise the CC cameras before committing any crimes.
Centering the student-people mass uprising in last July and in the beginning of August alongside the fall of Hasina government on 5 August, miscreants destroyed the CC cameras in different areas of the capital. Mohammadpur area in Dhaka is an example. Most of the CC cameras in that part of the city have been broken.
The incidents of mugging and robbery have increased in Mohammadpur area recently. However, the law enforcement agencies are having trouble identifying the criminals faster for the lack of working CC cameras in the neighbourhood.
Local residents of Mohammadpur even held a demonstration in front of the police station there on 26 October protesting the inaction of law and order enforcement forces. Following that the join force has launched drives in Mohammadpur and its surrounding areas for the improvement of law and order situation.
Mohammadpur falls under Tejgaon zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of police in the zone, Ziaul Haque told Prothom Alo that CC cameras cannot be found in many parts of Mohammadpur now. And, this is causing problems in case of identifying the criminals.
CCTV cameras are installed on different streets of the capital on behalf of DMP to monitor the activities of the criminals, bring crimes under control, establish order, and to ensure public security. DMP had installed as many as 2,100 CC cameras in different locations of Dhaka last year. The task of monitoring these cameras is done from a control room established at Gulshan police station.
In different parts of the capital, property owners have actually installed CC cameras on their own expense for the sake of their security. Apart from that, CC cameras have been installed in many areas on behalf of different associations and organisations of those respective areas. If needed, police collects the footages of these cameras in case of identifying criminals.
Deputy commissioner (DC) of the media and public relations department at DMP, Muhammad Talebur Rahman told Prothom Alo that quite a lot of CC cameras were destroyed in last July and August. Repairing work is on now.
Two of the top-level DMP officials have told Prothom Alo that the officers who are in-charge of DMP now have never worked in Dhaka before. So, they are not getting any information about the criminals as such.
According to police sources, most of the CC cameras in Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Uttara, Vatara, Badda, Rampura, Motijheel, Jatrabari and Kadamtali areas have been vandalised. For that reason, law enforcers are having trouble identifying the criminals. However, some other obstacles to the identification of criminals have also been included now.
Two of the top-level DMP officials have told Prothom Alo that the officers who are in-charge of DMP now have never worked in Dhaka before. They do not have enough idea about the criminal activities and the pattern of crime committed in Dhaka. Meanwhile, since they are new to Dhaka they do neither have the area-based connectivity nor they have been able to build up a network of sources (informers). So, they are not getting any information about the criminals as such.
Apart from that, another major obstruction is the lack of technologically skilled police officers. Most of the police personnel, who were involved with the technological investigation for a long time, have been transferred outside of Dhaka or to ‘non-operational units’. That’s why it’s taking time to bring the law and order situation of Dhaka under control, the officials added.