Zafra to ask DGS to provide city council with a master list of all city-owned CCTVs

CCTV at the Cebu City Hall. |CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Phillip Zafra will ask the Department of General Services to provide the city council with a master list of the city-owned closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) and their locations and positions to know what can be done to maximize their use.

Zafra said getting their hands on the master list would help the city council determine if the city’s CCTVs  are positioned correctly or if they need maintenance.

He said the city-owned CCTVs have to be working at all times as they play an important role in deterring crime such as theft, robbery, and kidnapping, as most lawless elements would hesitate to commit a crime in areas with actively recording CCTVs.

Zafra said the city government would also need to increase the number of CCTVs in public places because the city would be hosting a major event in 2020, the  500th anniversary of Christianity.

The Catholic Church is hoping  that Pope Francis will come to Cebu for the celebration.

“It is imperative that we provide maximum security in preparation of the Quincentennial Anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the country,” said Zafra.

Zafra said all  broken CCTVs would need to be replaced and that they might also have to recommend to the mayor to purchase more CCTVs if necessary.

Mayor Edgardo Labella has earlier revealed that a control room will be built on the 9th floor of the City Hall building to serve as the city’s command center for all its CCTVs.

Labella said this command center would monitor all the CCTVs in the city to ensure quick response during accidents, crimes, and other street incidents; and to monitor the comings and goings in the city round the clock. /elb