Councillor starts initiative to install CCTVs in Lucea

Western Bureau

With increasing concerns about the high levels of criminal activities in Hanover, Easton Edwards, the councillor for the Lucea division in the parish’s municipal corporation, is embarking on an initiative which will see the installation of CCTVs across the Lucea business district.

“Crime is not only the business of the police, but of every citizen, and I am thinking that, personally, I want to start something within the Lucea space, so I will be inviting businesspersons within the space to have a meeting, where we are going to be discussing CCTV,” said Edwards.

Edwards, who was seeking the support of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) at the corporation’s recent monthly meeting, where the matter of crime and violence was being discussed, said the situation required across-the-board support.

“The intention will be to have the businesses with some of their cameras projecting into the streets, and all linked to the JamaicaEye initiative,” said Edwards. “We, too, at the HMC can start by example and have our cameras mounted and projecting into the streets, as we are at an ideal vantage point.”

Edwards emphasised that as far as he is concerned, CCTVs play an important role in the issue of crime-fighting, adding that the presence of the technology will make criminals reconsider their planned actions. He expressed the view that if all parishes should adopt the technology on a large scale, such a move can only be to the benefit of the crime-fighting efforts.

Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, who is chairman of the HMC, said he was ready to support the initiative, and encouraged the other councillors to do likewise.

“It is a good thing for us to utilise the available technology to assist us in our day-to-day activities, and I am sure that it (the technology) can prevent crime, as once persons are aware that the cameras are present, they will think twice before acting,” said Samuels.

In a subsequent interview with The Gleaner, Edwards said the initiative came to mind following a recent visit to China, where he witnesses extensive CCTV coverage of almost all public movement on public thoroughfares.

“I have never seen so many cameras in my whole life, everywhere you go, so there was no need for the presence in numbers of police officers, because there were people who were manning these CCTVs. And so it made life a whole lot easier; once you move, you are being recorded,” said Edwards.

Regarding his initiative, Edwards noted that what he has in mind is to invite all the stakeholders within the Lucea business district, along with the police and the Jamaica Defence Force, to be a part of the initiative.

“The idea is that anyone that comes into this business district space should be under surveillance until they leave the space,” said Edwards. “Even the churches will be approached, because they too have a part to play. Any establishment that is on the main road needs to come on board.”