The arrest of two thieves who were caught on camera snatching a teenage girl’s cell phone in Antipolo City in Rizal province should give impetus to Cebu City Hall’s demand for commercial establishments to set up their own closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTV).
Footage of the suspects John Ralph de Guzman and Gilbert Pazcoguin went viral on Facebook and other social media sites, helping Antipolo police track them down in their hideout.
Early this week, Cebu City police produced an artist’s sketch of one of the hired gunmen in the ambush of local businessman Jonathan Go and his daughter, who were attacked as their car left their home in Happy Valley, barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City last Sept. 22.
The compound had a CCTV camera. The video footage was examined to help identify the assailants. In the meantime, securing the Go family also means keeping the compound’s camera on to monitor any suspicious characters roaming outside the area.
Notices are ready to be signed by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama (or Acting Mayor Edgardo Labella) warning courier shops and money transfer establishments that have no security cameras or security guards.
How soon will this happen?
No new stores have been closed yet.
LBC outlets, which were hit by a series of holdups, have learned their lesson and were the first to receive Mayor Rama’s stinging warning to take security seriously or suspend business.
Meanwhile, aside from the cost factor, there are privacy issues involved in deciding to install CCTVs in homes or in areas where criminals can likely prowl.
It does smack of “Big Brother” spying and hidden cameras. Ethical and legal issues, notwithstanding, its effectivity as a deterrent against crime remains debatable.
We’ve seen how hoodlums have taken to wearing ball caps when they enter establishments known to have CCTVs, the better to shield their features from a top-down camera view.
The series of five burglaries of municipal halls in Cebu, including Toledo City, were considered “inside job” operations by the police.
Still, the main recommendation of police officials and the Capitol was to install security cameras, regardless of expense. Their experience showed that one simply can’t rely on the proximity of police precincts to the town hall to prevent a robbery.
We hope Cebu City Hall makes good its promise to require businesses to adopt better security measures, including the installation of CCTVs.
A similar appeal can also be made to subdivisions. Knowing the police-to-citizen ratio in Cebu is below par, it’s an investment in security for homeowners associations.
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