The Demerara Harbour Bridge (DBH) in collaboration with the Guyana Police Force’s ‘A’ Division on Friday commissioned a surveillance system valued at over $3.1M at the Police Operations room at the Brickdam Police Station.
A release from the Government Information Agency said that this system will enable police officers to monitor traffic across the harbour bridge and activities in its environs.
GINA said that the cameras are able to function some distance along the East Bank Carriageway
to the East of the bridge and a certain distance along the West Bank Demerara public road to the West of the bridge.
DHB’s General Man-ager Rawlston Adams said that the system will be monitored in a proactive manner and if there is an incident, it allows the police officers to have access to the CCTV feeds. Adams said the initiative has been in the making for the past four years, but had to be placed on hold for the shifting of the administrative functions of the bridge to another building.
The recording is being done 24 hours and has a playback of over three months. The recorded footage, he said, is being properly stored and can be retrieved by either the DHB or the police.
Commander of the ‘A’ Division, Clifton Hicken expressed thanks to the management of the DHB for the collaboration which he said is needed for the force to carry out its duties effectively.
GINA said that the bridge usually shares its recordings with the police, however confidentiality was an issue. Hicken said that having this system independently installed at “A’ Division will help the force to be more accurate and proactive in the prevention and detection of crimes.
Hicken also assured that there that will be strict confidentiality in relation to the monitoring of the cameras and the relaying of information.
Out of the 26 cameras at the Harbour Bridge, the police have access to 18. GINA said that the system will provide live footage and of a quality which will enable the description of a driver, and vehicle and other special features that will help the police during investigations to be picked up.
Over the years there have been numerous incidents on the bridge where access to footage would have been useful to the police.
