Old CPDRC cameras like this one, will soon be replaced with brand new units.
/CDN file photo
As a security boost, the management of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) wanted to acquire new and state-of-the-art closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras for use at the jail facility.
Jail Warden Robert “Bobby” Legaspi said they would need around 32 brand new CCTVs to make sure that they are able to monitor activities in crowded areas of the 1.4-hectare provincial jail like its hallways, lobbies and their dining area.
The purchase would cost around P2 million, he told reporters in an interview on Thursday.
“We are not allowed to put up cameras inside their cells. We’re just going to place them strategically on locations that can cover a significant amount of distance,” Legaspi said.
Legaspi said existing CCTVs which he estimated to be less than 30 units were installed in 2007. He said that at least 18 of these were already busted while the remaining units were already obsolete.
“These (existing CCTVs) are outdated and unoperational, so with our plans to tighten security measures, we definitely needed brand new ones,” Legaspi said.
Legaspi said he already forwarded his request for the purchase of new CCTVs to the provincial budget office for consideration in the next Supplemental Budget.
A greyhound operation on August 1 led to the discovery of illegal drugs, cash, gambling tally sheets, deadly weapons and electronic gadgets, among others.
Law enforcers found that most of the contraband were brought into the jail facility through their canteen.
Since the greyhound, the CPDRC Task Force Group initiated several corrective measures which included the closure of the jail’s canteen and the deployment of personnel from the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) to help secure the facility.
Legaspi said that the acquisition of new CCTVs would be an added boost to the jail’s tightened security.
What he wanted to buy, Legaspi said, are cameras that of the latest technology.
“They will be wireless cameras, so we don’t need cables to have each one of them connected to a centralized unit or monitoring room. They are powered with IP (Internet Protocol) which can only be accessed through a specific software program,” he explained.
IP is the collective term used to define the various type of digital processes needed to relay data from one place to another without the aid of cables.
Any electronic equipment powered with IP are wireless, and in order to relay data across network boundaries, these should have access to the internet.
Legaspi said that in order to locate an IP-programmed hardware, such as a CCTV camera, one has to acquire its IP address.
He said using the jail’s IP address, Cebu Provincial Governor Hilario Davide III will also be able to monitor CPDRC activities from his Capitol office.