KARACHI: In the wake of recent upsurge in street crimes in which more than one dozen people have lost their lives over the past couple of weeks, the city police have asked shopkeepers and owners of business establishments to install their own surveillance cameras to ensure security, it emerged on Saturday.

The increasing incidents of armed muggings have also left many people seriously wounded as trigger-happy criminals fired at them over slightest resistance during robberies. This triggered an adverse reaction from concerned citizens, especially from business community about the deteriorating security situation in the metropolis.

Recently, in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and other parts of the city, police have asked shopkeepers to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in their shops and outside so that criminals’ movement could be recorded.

The police through written notices have also warned the shopkeepers that a legal action could be taken against them in case of non-compliance with the directives.

IGP says 45,000 surveillance cameras have been installed in Karachi in three years

The move drew adverse reaction from shopkeepers and businesspersons, who vent their anger on social media.

IGP justifies move

But the police authorities believe they are justified in asking shopkeepers and others to ensure security at their establishments.

“It is the responsibility of any vulnerable establishment to ensure its security as per law,” said Inspector General of Sindh Police Ghulam Nabi Memon. “The police have to ask owners of such properties to upgrade their security including installation of CCTV cameras under the Sindh Security of Vulnerable Establishments Act, 2015.”

The police believed these steps would help them control crimes and arrest the culprits as recently thousands of CCTV cameras had been installed in the metropolis.

“Over the past three years, we have succeeded in getting 45,000 street cameras installed in the metropolis,” said IGP Memon. “After any incident, these cameras helped police to establish what exactly happened at the crime scene and identity of the criminals.”

Replying to a question about implementation of the much-talked about ‘safe city project’ and what assistance had been provided by the Sindh government in this regard, the IGP said: “For the safe city project, the government is holding negotiations with the National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) to install 12,000 cameras in two phases while the Sindh government has also allocated funds for this purpose”.

Commenting on the grievances of shopkeepers in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and other areas, SSP-East Syed Abdul Rahim Sherazi said police were taking this step under a law.

He said it had been observed that shopkeepers mostly installed CCTV cameras inside their shops, and not the outside. He said that the initiative to ask businesses to install CCTV cameras outside was taken following a surge in incidents of street crime.

Under the law, any police officer, with the rank of DSP, is entitled to take action against vulnerable shops and other establishments in case of violation of such an order by the police authorities.

Meanwhile, the IGP directed the police to facilitate and reward those citizens who opt to take injured person to hospitals. “No such person should be forced to become a witness if he does not want to record his statement,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2022