The installation of Cayman’s long-awaited public closed-circuit television camera monitoring system has started in George Town. Government officials were spotted Tuesday watching the installation of a camera ‘pod’ at the intersection of Academy Way and Walkers Road.
More than 160 CCTV cameras will be going up at 60 different locations around Grand Cayman, according to officials with the government Portfolio of Internal and External Affairs.
The installation process has been delayed a few months from its initial planned start date of March, but portfolio Deputy Chief Officer Eric Bush has said the cameras should start working once they are installed at their respective locations.
The cameras will only monitor public areas and will not be allowed to surveil private property, Mr. Bush said.
‘CCTV cameras’ actually covers three different types of cameras including fixed video cameras, pan-tilt-zoom video cameras and automatic number plate readers (which take photos of licence plates).
All three will be installed at the various locations identified by police, which will be clearly marked with signs indicating the cameras are in use.
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 will transmit images in real-time back to the 911 Emergency Services Centre where they will be “passively monitored” – meaning used when incidents are reported in a specific area.
The cameras will also transmit data to a secured storage location via either wireless or land line connections. After that, the recordings will be 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 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, but that’s not the end of CCTV.
Mr. Bush said the government’s plan eventually calls for about 350 cameras – including 20 speed cameras – to be installed on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac.
The purchase of the remaining cameras is expected to cost $800,000 and Mr. Bush hopes at least some of that funding will be received from Cayman’s private sector companies.
Separate bids will be issued for the installation and maintenance of the second phase of the CCTV project.
The Security Centre was hired to install and maintain the first batch of 167 cameras.
There will be an additional yearly cost for those maintenance services, which will include, among other things, cleaning of the glass screen covers for the camera lenses will have to be able to see through.
Preliminary designs for CCTV cameras on Little Cayman are also in the works, but it’s unclear whether any additional cameras will be placed there.
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The idea is very lovely but I wouldn’t want to be caught on camera with my hair in a mess. With a mixture of disheveled hair and a missed morning shave I don’t like my best in person much less on camera.
Since medicine has enabled us to have pacemakers installed and with the devices beginning smaller and more dependable, why not couple up with the security industry that has given us shoplifting devices that are paper thin and install a pacemaker/security monitor in every person, say after the age of 6. This was every personal move could be monotired by a GPS and there whereabouts and actions of every individual cold be tracked. This is a simple solution to crime and perhaps in the future with new technology, a device can come up that will monitor something from my Catholic school days, impure thoughts. The nuns had a way of looking at us and determining that we had impure thoughts and for such reasoning there is no excuse for government to be denied this information even if it requires electronic monitoring.
Cayman once was a happy carefree place, but now, take a good look at American influence on our way of life. GO Anthony Weiner!!!
AWESOME…now we can watch the crime as it happens. our very own crime tv.
But I wonder how we are going to tackle the crime problem though? Has the government come up with any ideas?
Another thing I just thought of. Imagine a tourist, coming onto this island. They are going to think we are Spy island or something. CCTV camera’s everywhere.
I think we will lose tourism over these camera’s. Due to the fact, alot of people don’t like thier privacy invaded.
But….guess time will tell.
Hey Big Berd, what do you think will push more tourists away? These Cameras which are there to help protect the peace or all the stickup kids running around looking for someone to rob ro a house to break into. When the second phase is ready I will be the first in line to pay for a Camera monitoring my property..
WOW… THE BIRTH OF A POLICE STATE FOR THE NEXT DICTATOR!
Well NJ. Think these camera’s are really going to help? Serious question here.
I mean…most of the burgularies and robberies happening, These stores already have camera’s. And that’s not helping. The bad guys wear masks and cover themselves up from head to toe.
Think bigger camera’s are going to change things?
The usefulness of CCTV is interesting. On the one hand, a recent Metropolitan Police (UK) inquiry showed that CCTV was used in 85 out of 90 murder investigations (2009 I think) and was useful in either identifying the culprit or showing their movements beforehand, in 65 of these cases. Of course, it is impossible to show if these cases would have been detected without CCTV
Another claim for CCTV is that where the CCTV evidence is clear it leads to early admissions of guilt which does have a saving for the police, prosecution authorities and the courts.
On the downside, another Metropolitan police report claims that all too often the quality of the images is insufficient to identify offenders especially where simple measure are taken by the offender to hide their identity – the ubiquitous hoodie being a well known example.
There is evidence that suggests that many public order offences are unplanned and committed in the heat of the moment and, at such times, the potential offender doesn’t consider the position of the nearest CCTV camera. It is also widely known that either CCTV systems are not monitored 24 hours every day or that where they are, no one operator can actually monitor multiple screens at once. They do have their uses but they are not a panacea for crime.
I hope this helps an intelligent discussion on the subject
Well i am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction here. Agree or disagree, then mark this page and come back to it 6 months from now. See who’s right.
These CCTV camera’s are NOT going to stop the armed robberies and burglaries.
These people already wear masks, so having identifying camera’s are virtually pointless. Unless the police catch them as they are getting away. But the police already catch them this way now. And because it’s an in and out crime in less than 3 min. monitoring these camera’s (the 100’s) will be pointless as well.
Well…..my prediction. We will still be seeing these news crime headlines in 6 months.
The camera’s will stop the general public crime. Not the real crime that is happening now.
Book mark this prediction and come back to this page in 6 months.
Actually quite a meaningless challenge, Big Berd.
As anyone who works in criminal justice will know, to tackle any criminality needs a holistic approach. No crime will be solved by a few cameras. They may make detecting these crime easier or they mat displace crime, but they will not prevent crime. CCTV is only a small (but expensive) sticking plaster to a serious problem.
Only when the Cayman Islanders and their government tackle the issues of young people who feel disenfranchised from society and only when parents and community elders provide true leadership will we see a significant change in crime levels.
True and well spoken words, Beachbum…
You forgot to mention when the Cayman Islands can find material for political leaders who are not in the game for enriching themselves, and lining the pockets of them and their friends…
They might have a government who will put the safety, security and development of its people first and foremost.
After all, its not like they have 100s of millions of people to look out for.
50-60,000 people is not event the size of a small town in some countries.
This generation of criminals robbing today in Cayman is only following the example set for them by their political leaders of the last generation and particularly, the current one.
But that is a taboo thing to say in Cayman; they will send the police to your door, on one pretence or another, if you dare to.