Eagle-eyed project

IT’S COMMENDABLE businesses in Tunapuna have partnered with police to extend the reach of camera surveillance. We need more of this.

The Eagle Eye project, launched mere months ago, is a collaboration between the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Tunapuna Police Station Community Council and the authorities. It has already given police command access to as many as 400 cameras in the area and environs.

At a time when authorities repeatedly beg members of the public to come forward to help fight crime, here is an example of precisely that. Not only must this initiative be commended, but it should also be rapidly expanded.

“Eagle Eye has been working in Tunapuna,” said chamber head and council director Neil Boodoosingh this month. “We have been getting the element out of Tunapuna. The problem is, Tunapuna has now become a hard-target city and the element is going to go into the more vulnerable areas.”

Part of the reason, stakeholders say, the project has been a success relates to the fact that cameras are placed in locations not typically covered by the national security services’ network, reaching into previously unreachable nooks and crannies.

The monthly fee for a business is $199 for two cameras and, for residential customers, $99 for one. It is understood these are cost prices.

Additionally, because those who sign up help monitor the network, faulty cameras can be picked up and repaired in 48 hours. In contrast, it is perhaps the case that officers on the street may not realise specific CCTV cameras – affected by site-specific connectivity challenges – are down until there is cause to check footage.

That the project is bearing fruit is a hopeful sign for Tunapuna residents, who have endured, like residents in many other communities, an upsurge in gun violence.

The year began with a group of people being fired at – and two killed – at the Tunapuna Market. Several individuals were shot in police-involved killings. Representatives for the area believe seven or eight gangs operate. Rumours of extortion abound. Some areas have become out-of-bounds. Visitors for Carnival declined.

If the Eagle Eye project has helped turn things around, it is hoped it can do the same nationally. Already, several gas station owners and networks are lining up to participate.

With the State seemingly struggling to meet its goal of 5,000 CCTV cameras (it has been engaged in billion-dollar legal wranglings with, effectively, itself via TSTT), the need for more robust surveillance infrastructure is pressing. Every little counts, even 400.

However, efforts must be made to protect installations and to ensure their integrity, especially with criminals, too, setting up illegal networks.

In theory, electronic recordings are now admissible in court, but the storage and custody chain of footage need to be strongly regulated to ensure greater court enforcement.