Vitebsk region police will install video cameras in high-rise buildings

In the Vitebsk region, the police are initiating the installation of video cameras in the entrances of apartment buildings and on adjacent territories to prevent and investigate thefts and other crimes. This was reported by the Information and Public Relations Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.

Thefts predominate in the structure of crimes, with private property thefts accounting for 91.8% of cases in the first half of the current year, including 42.8% from citizens' homes and dachas. To reduce such incidents, law enforcement officers are trying to implement modern forms and methods of theft prevention and hot pursuit investigation. In particular, it is increasingly proposed to use video surveillance systems for these purposes, attracting funds from citizens and owners of buildings and structures for their equipment on a shared basis. Since the beginning of the year, internal affairs bodies have conducted 210 awareness-raising events, resulting in 32 apartment building entrances being equipped with cameras.

Information on the possibility of equipping the courtyards of apartment buildings with video surveillance cameras has also been sent to the directors of housing and communal services enterprises and the chairpersons of homeowners' associations by local authorities. As a result, 120 cameras have already been installed.

"For over a year, a limited liability company has been operating in the Vitebsk region, which is engaged in equipping entrance intercom doors of apartment buildings with video surveillance systems, placing cameras on stair landings and at the entrances to apartment buildings. The cost of such services is no different from the fee for a regular intercom," noted specialists from the department. They cited an example where, in the current year, at the house at 103 Moskovsky Avenue in Vitebsk, this organization installed 3 video surveillance cameras in each entrance. Now, residents, without fear for their property, leave not only bicycles but also baby strollers there. In addition, cleanliness and order are maintained on the stair landings.

In total, this organization has installed 89 video surveillance cameras in Vitebsk on 13 apartment buildings, inside entrances and on the adjacent territory. In Orsha, 5 houses are equipped with a video surveillance system.

The benefit of video cameras in public places is confirmed by numerous facts of disclosed crimes. For example, in Orsha this year, it was possible to detain an exhibitionist who committed hooligan acts against a minor, a handbag thief, and several more bank card thieves.

Ekaterina Knyazeva, BELTA