A vital clue in the investigation into the murder of 24-year-old techie S. Swathi in Nungambakkam was obtained from CCTV footage from a private house in Choolaimedu. The images of the suspect walking down a street helped give focus to the police’s efforts to track him down.
The issue has also brought to the fore the importance of a comprehensive CCTV network across the city and the role of residents in contributing to it.
In a step towards more effective surveillance, residents of Adambakkam recently pooled in money to install cameras in the densely populated areas of the locality.
This is even as the city police have started reaching out to people for contributions to purchase and install cameras at road junctions to improve monitoring of these areas. As part of this civic initiative, residents of Kesari Nagar in Adambakkam have helped install 21 high-definition CCTV cameras at various locations covering 230 houses.
“The installations were sponsored by residents’ welfare association members and the eight streets were chosen by the police,” said E.P. Arutperum Jothi, secretary of the Kesari Nagar Residents Welfare Association. “These cameras are connected through an optic fibre cable laid exclusively for this purpose and the footage is monitored from computers located in five different places,” he said.
A skit on crime prevention was organised urging participants to keep a vigil in their neighbourhood.
Launching the network, Alandur MLA T.M. Anbarasan said these initiatives are essential to ensure crime prevention and detection. He also assured residents that he would look into the pending civic issues in the area.
Crime prevention
Deputy Commissioner of Police, St. Thomas Mount, P.S.C. Kalyan, told The Hindu that the CCTV cameras would help in crime prevention and provide information to policemen on the field.
After CCTV networks have been set up, many cases have been resolved in the city.
If similar initiatives came from residents and traders in suburban areas, there could be a greater check on crime, he said.
As many as 21 high-definition cameras that cover 230 houses have been set up in Kesari Nagar
