CCTV cameras a boon for law enforcers

Thiruvananthapuram: CCTV cameras, which theoretically act as a deterrent to petty crimes, have helped police bust many theft and burglary cases in a decade in the state.

The CCTV cameras had helped in the arrests of Bunty Chor  in the capital, CPM branch secretary C. Raghavan for the theft at an NRI's house in Kasargod and the busting of  the Indica car robbery gang of Changanassery, among others.
Numerous hit and run cases and vital clues on deaths such as that of Michelle Shaji were recorded on camera. Michelle, a CA student, had jumped into the backwaters from a bridge in Kochi recently. She was last spotted on a CCTV camera in Ernakulam.

"The Thiruvananthapuram rural police district alone has 700 CCTV cameras that are accessed by the police from time to time. There are thousands of them in Kochi and Thiruvanathapuram. Most of them were installed by civic bodies, trader organisations and residents' associations," a police official said.
As per officials, a combination of CCTVs and mobile tower locations gives a headstart to the police in cracking the cases.

"If the phone numbers of multiple history-sheeters are found under the mobile phone tower near the crime spot, we will have the first clue. The CCTV visuals give us clear evidence and the cases are solved in an hour," an official said.
As per R. Jithin, a security solutions service provider, there has been a 200 per cent increase in the installation of CCTV cameras.

"Recently, a theft in a school at Balaramapuram was caught on the CCTVs we had installed. NRIs particularly install cameras as they want to know the visitors to their homes through their laptops while sitting in another country," said Jithin.