The total number of CCTV cameras installed by the Mumbai Police across the city is going to double from 5,350 to more than 10,000. According to senior police officers, 5,530 cameras are set to come up across the city and the tendering process will begin within a few months. However, senior officers did not say in how many police stations CCTV cameras have been installed.
Recently, the Bombay High Court came down heavily on the Maharashtra government for the “haphazard manner” in installing CCTV cameras and called the process an “eye-wash”.
Addressing the media, Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Vishwas Nangre Patil said that 5,530 cameras were set to be installed. “Within two to three months, tenders will be floated to begin work on setting up these new cameras. The CCTV cameras already installed have been of great help to us as far as detection of crime is concerned,” Patil said.
Sharing data during the crime conference, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said 33,813 cases were registered in police stations across the city in 2021 with a 67 per cent detection rate. As compared to this, 27,244 cases were registered in 2020 with a detection rate of 62 per cent. “The numbers have risen this year since fewer people were on streets last year due to the pandemic,” Nagrale said.
Theft, motor vehicle theft and hurt (bodily injury) were the top crimes reported in 2021. When it came to traffic violations in the past year, there were 8.06 lakh cases of riding without a helmet and 6.63 lakh cases of driving in a no entry zone.
Of the total sanctioned strength of 46,212, there were still 8,747 vacancies in the Mumbai Police last year. “The reason behind this is that we could not conduct police recruitment for the past three years. It was only recently that we recruited 1,076 officials in the force, which should have been done in 2018,” Nagrale said.
