We have written about how useful city surveillance can be, among other things, in the following materials: They ostentatiously drink alcohol in public places. Fines were handed out; They drink alcohol in playgrounds, pretend to be ninjas and destroy public property; A drunk man tugged at the clothing of a woman who he claimed had stolen his phone. The suspects were located thanks to surveillance.
It is not known exactly how many people are apprehended by officers thanks to surveillance, because the uniformed services do not keep such statistics. It is known, however, that municipal police officers themselves intervene in response to what the surveillance operator spots an average of approximately 75–80 times a month.
These interventions most often concern road incidents, disturbances of public order or alcohol consumption. “Surveillance is very useful; we use it very often in our work,” says “ii” Kamila Chalewicz-Pudłowska, commander of the Bolesławiec Municipal Police. “Besides, it has a preventive effect. I am convinced that prohibited acts occur less frequently in places where people know there is a camera.”
Czujesz się bezpieczniej, wiedząc, że w naszym mieście działa monitoring?
Police officers often ask the Municipal Police to provide surveillance footage. The head of the Bolesławiec police, Inspector Henryk Stefanko, said while presenting to Bolesławiec City Council members in March this year information on the state of public order and safety for 2015: “I would like to thank the commander and the Municipal Police officers. We can always count on their help. Surveillance is an invaluable source of information for us; in many, many cases it helps us identify the perpetrators of incidents. I am very pleased that it exists and functions so well.”
Sometimes the opposite happens. Surveillance operators who find information about crimes in the local media notify the police that they have surveillance footage that may prove useful. (This was the case, for example, with the burglary at LPK; footage from the city cameras undoubtedly contributed to the perpetrators’ swift arrest).
The Municipal Police primarily deals with petty offences, however. This is not insignificant. “The fact that we send a patrol to the scene prevents further prohibited acts, because although drinking alcohol in public places may seem trivial, it is also known that vandalism, for example, occurs more often under its influence,” emphasizes the head of the Municipal Police. “And thanks to our intervention, there is a chance that something worse will not happen in that place.”
There were also occasions when the operator noticed improper signage—precisely in the camera footage—and then reported it to the road authority.
K. Chalewicz-Pudłowska sees no drawbacks to the city surveillance system. But she immediately adds: “Surveillance makes sense only when there is also a person who observes the incident and sends a patrol there. It must be followed by action from officers.”