Baguio to install CCTVs in 40 areas

BAGUIO CITY — In its bid to boost the Smart City Command Center's (SC3) crime and traffic moni-toring capability, the city government is set to procure modern closed-circuit television (CCTV) units to be installed in different areas in the Summer Capital.

Mayor Benjamin Magalong said the city is set to procure 40 additional automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) CCTV cameras to be installed at the different number coding area zones for easy and fast monitoring of traffic conditions, iden-tification of traffic violators and other crimes.

ANPR CCTV cameras enable advanced vehicle plate number tracking allowing for targeted searches and the ability to blacklist or whitelist vehicles based on specific conditions, according to SC3 officer in charge system analyst IV Adam Bert Lacay.

Currently, the city already has 40 units of ANPR CCTV installed and operated at the different entry and exit points of the city and at major intersections at the central business district for real-time traffic monitoring and enhanced safety and security.

Apart from the ANPR CCTV system, the city has 115 CCTVs installed all over the central busi-ness district. These are religiously being monitored by the SC3 for traffic and crime monitoring.

Lacay said the SC3 processed 495 CCTV playback requests and 366 CCTV extraction requests for incidents related to vehicular traffic accidents, missing items, vehicle verification and other crime-related incidents such as theft.

Aside from the Baguio 911 helpline and the CCTVs, the SC3 also covers various monitoring sys-tems including air quality, weather, the flood early warning system, earthquake monitoring in-struments and GPS tracking for police mobile units, according to Lacay.

"By offering real-time monitoring, it helps the city better understand and manage risks related to the environment, climate, natural disasters such as flooding and earthquakes, and public safety and response," he said.