TCI: Six weeks to CCTV across Providenciales, says Police Commissioner

#TurksandCaicos, May 02, 2018 – Providenciales – Closed Circuit Television is six weeks away from turning on for live broadcast in the Turks and Caicos Islands with the main goal being to prevent crime.

“There are over a hundred cameras going up, and we’re working very closely with those who already have cameras, to make sure we can plug into them and see areas that might not be covered by the new cameras.  But by enlarge we will cover every major route, every major junction, some hot-spots we want to keep a close eye on.” said James Smith – TCI Police Commissioner

From having the ability to zoom, pivot and capture images even at night; media learned that the surveillance video will be crystal clear, ideal to support criminal cases and is aimed at also curbing traffic offenses.  Police Commissioner James Smith said both the legal and physical infrastructure are ready for phase one in Providenciales.

“We have been very busy in terms of working with the Office of the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and others on the introduction of significant new legislation in the country” he said.

With concerns mounting globally about how much is too much when it comes to these public video surveillance systems, there had to be the appropriate legislation in place to support any information gathered and used for the purpose of police investigations and court trials.  Some 120 cameras will be installed using fiber optic technology through DigicelTCI; Digicel was the successful winner of the project bid.

“The technology is very clever and I should mention that in the CCTV control room, we have an inspector on 24-7 duty and supported by the 911 Supervisor, the 911 staff and dedicated CCTV monitor people so that we can quickly switch our eyes to an area of concern and we will be better able to direct vehicles and officers to incidents so it should make a significant change to the way we react to stuff, the way we can prevent stuff but it will assist us to provide evidence in court” said the Commissioner.

By: Deandrea Hamilton