People contribute, people protect community cameras

(Baonghean) - Trung Do Ward (Vinh City) is the first locality in the province to test the model and operate a community camera system to help ensure security and order and prevent crimes. After only a short time of operation, this model has brought many practical results.

Just installed camera and caught thief

At 11:00 a.m. on April 24, 2017, Trung Do Ward Police received a report from Ms. Trinh Thi Ngoc Tinh (residing in Thanh An Commune, Thanh Chuong District) that she rode an electric bicycle to her friend's rented room in Block 12, Trung Do Ward. After going into the house to play for about 30 minutes, she discovered that the electric bicycle parked in front of the rented room had "disappeared".

Extracting surveillance cameras in this area, Trung Do Ward Police discovered 2 young men riding a motorbike with license plate 37B-29824 stealing the above bicycle. Investigating by the license plate, the police force identified the 2 subjects as Ton That Tung (born in 1981) and Ton That Thin (born in 1988), 2 biological brothers, both residing in Block 12, Ben Thuy Ward (Vinh City) - the perpetrators of a series of motorbike thefts in the ward recently.

It is known that Ton That Tung was sentenced by the People's Court of Vinh City to 30 months in prison for drug possession in 2002, 8 months in prison for property theft in 2004, and 7 years in prison for drug possession in 2007. Ton That Thin was also sentenced by the People's Court of Vinh City to 17 months in prison for property theft in 2007, and before that in 2004 he was also forced to be sent to a reform school.

The quick arrest of the thief thanks to the community camera made the people of Trung Do ward very excited. Mr. Ho Nghia Doan (72 years old, block 4, Trung Do ward) shared: “Since having the camera, the people in our neighborhood feel much more secure, the bad guys have less chance to successfully commit and escape after committing the crime. Thanks to that, the order situation in the area is much more stable than before”.

Delegates monitor camera images extracted at the Conference to launch the model and operate the community camera system on May 18. Photo: Canh Nam

Trung Do Ward is a large area with many key projects, and is also home to many agencies and units under the management of the Central and the province. The entire ward has more than 16,600 people and nearly 4,000 temporary residents, most of whom are students. With that characteristic, this is considered a place with many potential risks of security and order problems.

Faced with that situation, Trung Do ward determined the key task to focus on in 2017 is to build a community camera system as a model in the movement of the whole people to protect national security to register for implementation. This is the first model to be implemented in Vinh city and the whole province.

The camera system not only helps people feel more secure but also helps ward leaders promptly detect and handle risks of insecurity and disorder, creating favorable conditions for security agencies in handling, investigating and prosecuting if problems occur.

People contribute, people protect

This model was started by Trung Do ward in late 2016, however, the first camera was not officially installed until early April 2017. Sharing about the difficulties in the implementation process, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Huan - Chairman of Trung Do ward People's Committee said that the biggest difficulty was finding a solution that both ensured efficiency and saved budget as well as contributions from the people.

After a practical experience study trip to Hai Chau 1 Ward, Hai Chau District, Da Nang City, the staff of Trung Do Ward organized research and developed a project to suit the local reality. The most optimal solution chosen was to use the Internet connection in the population and store it through a private server system for use in the ward's camera system.

The ward People's Committee has also asked for support from Viettel network to reduce monthly subscription fees for households as well as the ward's Internet connection, ensuring the lowest cost for camera operation.

The biggest factor contributing to the initial success of the model is the consensus and support of the people. According to the project's budget estimate, initially estimated at about 350 million VND, up to now the Ward People's Committee has mobilized people to contribute 234 million VND, an average of 100,000 VND per household, some households donated up to 3 million VND.

The ward has installed a server system consisting of 2 screens located at the ward police headquarters and 62/100 cameras in the residential community. The installed cameras have been connected to the server system, ensuring the operation, monitoring, and exploitation of data to serve the prevention and fight against all types of crimes.

It is expected that by the end of June 2017, all cameras will be fully installed throughout the ward. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Huan added that in the initial project, the ward planned to gradually deploy the installation in each block because of concerns about the lack of funding. However, the enthusiastic response of the people has created an unexpected success for the project, with cameras being installed simultaneously in all 15 blocks in the ward.

Community surveillance cameras are installed on residential streets in Trung Do ward (Vinh city). Photo: PT

One of the issues that arose after the community camera system was put into operation was the protection of this property from vandalism and theft. The approach of the Trung Do Ward People's Committee is to connect the camera lenses in a system to ensure continuity, and any external impacts that cause data loss from this camera lens will be recorded on other camera lenses, which helps prevent all activities from thieves.

The work of protecting the camera system is also assigned by the ward to self-management teams in each block, promoting the effectiveness of the motto "property contributed by the people, protected by the people". In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen The Bay - Deputy Head of Trung Do Ward Police said that the unit will assign people to regularly monitor the camera screen to monitor the security and order situation in the ward; at the same time, during patrols, more attention will be paid to ensuring the safety of camera assets.

Highly appreciating the effectiveness of community cameras, Mr. Nguyen Hoai An - Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee said that this is a model demonstrating the sense of responsibility for protecting security, order and social safety of the officials and people of Trung Do ward. It not only provides complete and accurate images of violations as a basis for handling, the cameras also help deter and raise people's awareness of complying with the law.

Although not a new model compared to other localities across the country, the piloting and operation of the community camera system in Trung Do ward has shown positive signs of a tool to support security and order monitoring, which needs to be replicated in many areas across the province in the coming time./.

Phuong Thao