City of Cape Town is watching over the other side of the CCTV. The network is all about crime and it’s also proving an invaluable tool in raising the alarm around other public safety risks.
Reportedly, the Metro Police Strategic Surveillance Unit (SSU) has a network of 1169 CCTV cameras in various parts of the metropole. Some of them are funded by the Safety and Security Directorate and others via ward allocations.
Apart from expanding the CCTV footprint, the SSU has also spent considerable time and effort in retrofitting cameras to ensure the updated capabilities. However, the system detected 43,968 incidents, in the 2023-24 financial year. Out of these 26,384 incidents of crime were relayed to responders that resulted arresting in 454 cases.
As per the sources, the CCTV operators detected the following non-crime related incidents, during the period in review:
- 1,671 fires, including 314 residential fires and 1,174 grass or rubbish fires
- 113 medical incidents, including 57 cases of assault
- 1,819 motor vehicle accidents, resulting in 43 arrests for drunk driving and reckless and negligent driving
- 259 utility-related incidents such as electrical faults, burst water mains etc.
In terms of by-law transgressions, operators detected 7,360 incidents included 294 incidents of fighting in public that resulted in 17 arrests and 2,214 incidents of drinking in public.
CCTV footage is securely stored and only made available to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for purposes of investigation. SAPS has sought the assistance of the SSU in 302 instances, last year.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith said that the CCTV cameras have without a doubt proven their worth in the enforcement environment.
Recently, Smith highlighted the two incidents that happened on the same day in Athlone, where camera operators led ground forces to recover two firearms and make three related arrests.
However, it is important to acknowledge that CCTV does not keep an eye only on crime. the operators also detect and dispatch responses to emergency incidents such as flooding, fires, motor-vehicle accidents or broken-down vehicles on the highways.
Alderman JP Smith enlightened that they are moving into other forms of technology, but CCTV has long been a force multiplier, ensuring responses faster than they would have happened otherwise, or at all.
Notably, the work will continue to expand the CCTV network and they are also planning to pilot a CCTV analytics project that will help in making the ever-increasing camera network better and faster at detecting and responding to the various other incidents.