A wireless link has been set up between the Demerara Harbour Bridge and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Guyana Police Force and it is expected to aid the fight against crime and the monitoring of traffic.
The project, into which the Public Infrastructure Ministry invested approximately $3M, will allow police to have access to live feeds from the harbour bridge’s cameras.
“It might appear to be very simple but it is very, very significant for us…,” Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud said yesterday at the commissioning of the project.
With a live feed, Persaud noted, police can monitor for both crime and traffic. “If there is a [traffic] build up, then a commander is informed and they are deployed to deal with those build ups,” he said.
Persaud noted that in the past General Manager of the bridge Company Rawlston Adams has been extremely supportive by providing the police force with any information needed, although the company had to expend its own human resources in exercises that would often be time consuming.
“He would have to go and redirect his staff and commit them to do other things which takes away from his operations and sometimes, based on demands, that could be very limited,” he said. He also highlighted the issue of the staff of the bridge company being put at a risk since they were assisting the police force in dealing with criminals.
Persaud, who expressed his gratitude to the bridge company and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, said one of the main reasons why so much focus has been placed on the bridge is the increase in crimes on the West Demerara, which are being committed by people living in the city. He added that while it is sometimes difficult to recognise the persons with the cameras, most of the times the video feed is clear.
He said the next focus will be on being able to store and retrieve data over longer periods.
Public Infrastructure Minister David Patterson lauded the initiative and pledge his full support in assisting with the crime fight.
“When I assumed office, Mr. Adams briefed me on their support to the police force and, as the Commissioner has indicated, I don’t think a lot of people were aware that the harbour bridge played such a role in crime fighting previously.
It wasn’t highlighted because of security reasons and, with the initiative, it is time the country move forward with technological advances,” he said, while stating that the project is just an extension of part of the efforts to make the country safer.
Patterson added that he will do whatever is needed to aid in the crime fight. “I know GPL [Guyana Power and Light Inc] have some options in providing information to the police by allowing our electrical lines to carry data,” he said, while noting that from what he was told, the cables underground have space for fibre optic cables to be installed.
