More cameras, new tech to help fight crime
In 2014, he ambushed a woman at a void deck and raped her at the staircase of a carpark.
The police later questioned the 49-year-old cleaner, but he denied being at the scene. Footage from surveillance cameras proved otherwise, and he was arrested and jailed for 13 years.
At the annual crime briefing yesterday, the police said such cameras have played a notable part in solving many cases.
As of last year, footage from about 3,400 video clips from police cameras have helped solve over 1,600 crimes, including molest, unlicensed moneylending and theft.
Under its PolCam initiative, started in 2012, the police have installed 62,000 cameras in 10,000 HDB blocks and multi-storey carparks. The next phase has already seen 1,385 new cameras at locations such as Ang Mo Kio and Bedok town centres as well as at Jurong Gateway.
More will be installed, in stages, at 2,500 locations from now till 2019, covering common areas such as corridors, hawker centres and linkways.
Some of these cameras have sophisticated zoom capabilities and wider areas of coverage, reported The Straits Times.
The police are testing new technology such as video analytics to detect suspicious items.
In-car cameras have also helped fight crime. Since 2015, the Vehicle on Watch programme has seen 5,500 vehicle owners using dashcams to deter crime in 500 carparks.
Bulls-eye Security Services operations director Jeran Singh told The New Paper more cameras would help fight crime. He said: "It will help solve cases because it is hard evidence, not just someone's word against yours."
Cameras would also deter criminal acts. "If you know there is a camera capturing your every move, you will think twice before you do something."
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