Money not requested in budget
Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs Chief Officer Eric Bush confirmed Tuesday that no money had been given or even requested by the portfolio for the continuing build out of the system. More than 200 CCTV cameras are now up and operating around Grand Cayman, mostly in West Bay, George Town and Bodden Town locations.
Mr. Bush said an ongoing evaluation of the existing cameras would be done to determine if there are any “blind spots” in the system, particularly in central George Town. He said some cameras could be shifted from their current location depending on what the review finds.
However, no new cameras will be purchased until at least the latter part of 2013, he said.
The official hand over of the first 224 CCTV cameras occurred earlier this year. Those cameras are now transmitting images back to the 911 Emergency Communications Centre in George Town. The images are “passively monitored” by centre personnel, meaning when police, fire or ambulance services receive a call the cameras can be zeroed in on the area to assist first responders.
When the system is fully installed, officers at the George Town, West Bay and Bodden Town police stations will be able to review CCTV footage at those stations, but they won’t be able to manipulate the cameras or change the viewing angles.
That can only be done within the 911 centre. Police must make specific requests to obtain copies of video taken from the cameras or still photos captured by automatic number plate recognition cameras.
The government still hopes the expansion of the CCTV system can be accomplished, perhaps in the 2013/14 budget.
This would involve placing more cameras around Grand Cayman and installing some surveillance cameras in Cayman Brac.
Precisely what areas the second phase of CCTV might cover and how many cameras will be purchased isn’t known yet.
In April, 911 centre director Brent Finster said the budget for the 2012/13 year was to be $800,000. Some $2 million was spent on the installation of the first stage of the project. Yearly maintenance and ancillary costs for CCTV are expected to total around $300,000.
“It was agreed earlier that cameras in certain areas of George Town and West Bay Road would be kept sparse because the private sector would be expected to help [in those areas],” Mr. Finster said.
Government officials said they would request additional funding from the private sector for CCTV some time ago.
Exactly how much cash companies would be asked to chip in wasn’t stated at the time, but estimates have ranged from between $800,000 to $2 million.
Related Videos
