Quite often we hear instances of chain-snatching, vehicle theft and burglary in our area and complaint about how CCTV cameras should be installed to nab the culprits. But how many times have we actually gone ahead and done something about it?

About 3000 residents of Hennur Layout in Northeast Bengaluru have come together to do something about the situation and have gone way beyond just complaining.

The residents had been gripped with the fear of burglary, vehicle theft and chain snatching for quite some time now. What added to their woes was that their local police station was moved to a neighbourhood constituency about 2 years back. The residents plead for a police station in their area and a resident agreed to offer a place for setting up the police outpost. Despite of setting up a police outpost, chain-snatchers brutally attacked a woman. Although the culprits were nabbed, the residents felt insecure after the entire incident.

For ensuring 24*7 security for residents to feel safe, Hennur Layout Resident Welfare Association (RWA) decided and installed CCTVs to monitor their locality all day-long. The RWA spent about Rs.1.25 lakh and installed about 6 CCTV cameras with a fully established control and monitoring unit in the locality. Vantage points connecting to other layouts were chosen across the locality to install the cameras. Anybody mobbing out or entering the layout has to pass through these specific points. Moreover, the cameras installed are bullet cameras, which function even during rains. Even when it’s dark, the images it captures have very good resolution. A DVR system has been set up at the police outpost to record and monitor the images. These images will be jointly monitored by RWA and the police.

The Hennur RWA plans to extend these services in other localities as well. Although a few organizations contributed, finances were mostly provided by individuals. However, the RWA was disappointed about no police official turning up at the inauguration of CCTV cameras. Police must encourage and promote more of such resident initiatives. The citizen activism shown by residents for ensuring law and order in their locality has set an example for other localities and RWA.

Source: Bangalore Mirror