More than 80 closed-circuit television cameras that have been installed in public rights of way in George Town are now able to transmit images and data back to the Cayman Islands 911 Emergency Centre, where they can be stored and used by police.
However, signs notifying the public of the location of those cameras have not been put up yet, according to the government official who is spear-heading the project.
The reason, says Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs Deputy Chief Officer Eric Bush, is that system cameras are still being put up along the Seven Mile Beach corridor and in West Bay. Sometimes certain cameras in George Town have to be taken out of service while other recent installations are tested to ensure they are in working order.
“The cameras may not be working all the time,” Mr. Bush said. “The [entire] CCTV system has not been handed over to us yet by the contractor.”
Once phase one of the CCTV installation project is complete, there will be more than 200 individual cameras set up in clusters or “pods” around George Town, Seven Mile Beach and West Bay. West Bay-area camera installations should start in the next couple of weeks, Mr. Bush said.
As the installation for phase one of the CCTV project is winding down, the portfolio plans to begin issuing bids for the second phase of the public monitoring project on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. When the contractor has handed over the first section of the CCTV system to the government – in other words, that project is complete – signs notifying the public about the existence of CCTV cameras will be put up.
Mr. Bush said in the interim, some recordings from the CCTV cameras have been used to assist local police.
“Certainly, there have been requests by police for recordings,” he said. “I understand it has been helpful [to officers].”
The first “pod” of public monitoring cameras went up at the intersection of Walkers Road and Academy Way, near the University College of the Cayman Islands campus on 7 June. Generally, several cameras are installed at each “pod” location … allowing the devices to look in different directions along the public right of way.
The cameras will only monitor public areas and will not be allowed to be used on private property. Many properties, including Grand Cayman businesses and government offices, already have their own private CCTV surveillance systems, which are utilised by police to assist in crime investigation.
CCTV cameras’ actually covers three different types of cameras including fixed video cameras, pan-tilt-zoom video cameras and automatic number plate readers. Automatic number plate readers, often called ANPR cameras, take photos of licence plates.
All three types of cameras are being installed at the various locations identified by police.
A fourth type, speed cameras, have not been purchased and will not be installed in the initial phase of the CCTV project. Mr. Bush said Cayman’s Traffic Law would have to be changed before those devices could legally be used on local roads.
The cameras transmit images in real-time back to the 911 Emergency Services Centre where they are “passively monitored” – meaning used when incidents are reported in a specific area.
The cameras also transmit data to a secured storage location via either wireless or land line connections. After that, recordings are kept for at least 60 days, in case they are requested by police for review.
Police officers above a certain rank will be able to view the real-time CCTV cameras from George Town, Bodden Town, West Bay and Cayman Brac police stations once the system is fully installed, Mr. Bush said. However, those officers will not be able to control those cameras.
Some $2 million has been spent on purchasing the cameras and establishing the necessary infrastructure for the first phase of the system. The CCTV maintenance budget is projected at some $300,000 per year.
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Hello!!! Security cameras are to catch people doing wrong…tell me know….how are we going to catch these crimminals if we send out a publication of the location of these cameras….Well if I were a criminal what would I do? I would take the list of camera placement and totally avoid those area and do my crimes in the areas that there are not cameras….such as the private residences What a brilliant idea…lets let everyone know where the cameras are so we can avoid them and continue to talk about the importance of these cameras… Does it take a rocket scientist to figure out the camera locations need to be kept secret?
Are these security cameras here to help the public or the perputrators??
@ Snapouttaitpeople- With the Governor and the Commissioner of Police having the sole power to tap and intercept phone conversations, are you certain for a fact that the CCTV camaras are installed to only catch criminals?????????