Every time his wife steps out of the house, Subramanian is worried for her safety. A few months ago, she was the victim of a chain snatching incident that took place in broad daylight on a quiet street in West Mambalam.
With such thefts becoming frequent, the Ashok Nagar R3 Station is working together with residents to cover West Mambalam and surrounding areas in a security blanket. The partnership has led to the establishment of many booths and installation of around 60 CCTV cameras at a few streets in the region.
“In the last three months alone, eight chain snatching incidents have been reported from our range. It is for prevention of such crimes that we have embarked on this initiative. We have been meeting Association members and corporates and asking them to support the effort,” says V. Arumugham, Assistant Commissioner of Police, R3 Station.
Recently, a police booth was inaugurated at Mahadevan Street near Ayodhya Mandapam. The police booth has been sponsored by a construction company operating from here.
“Earlier, the police used to come only for night patrolling. After the construction of the booth, we find them doing regular rounds during the day as well. Police presence in the vicinity should deter petty criminals,” says a woman resident.
“The police approached us and told us about the initiative. We were keen to get on board. The street is a link between Ashok Nagar 7th Avenue and Arya Gowda Road and is used by many. Also, in recent times, many incidents of chain snatching, house break-ins have been reported from this area, so we felt the regular presence of police personnel will keep such criminals at bay,” says Natraj, a resident whose family sponsored five CCTV cameras and 16 channel digital video recorders.
Each of these recorders can hold data up to three weeks. He said 11 more cameras were expected to be installed on the street in the coming days, jointly bought by residents of the street.
The combination of booths and surveillance devices has instilled a sense of security in residents.
To fine-tune the system, the police are looking at the possibility of remotely connecting the cameras to a centralised monitor at the station and also making feeds available on the mobile phones of the AC, the DC and inspector.
“Beat officers are also checking the feeds every day at the booths. Women are especially happy about the initiative,” he adds.
