(Trinidad Express) The TT$2 million Duncan Street Police Post in Port of Spain officially began functioning on Monday, equipped with 36 high-tech surveillance cameras monitoring citizens’ every move.
The Express learned that the cameras, some bullet-proof, follow a moving object and keep the target in full view allowing police to track the exact location of the offender in excess of a 200-metre span along Duncan and Nelson Streets in East Port of Spain.
Sources told the Express that the cameras, which have been placed at strategic locations throughout the police post, are being fed footage from a mega rotating Thermal PTZ camera that is being dubbed the “monster”.
The Thermal PTZ was specifically selected for the high-risk crime-ridden area.
Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams had once labelled the area the “most violent” in terms of the high murder rate.
The Express learned that while the solar-lit police post, a project of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), was opened on October 17, 2013, the Police Service had requested additional specifications for the three-storey building before opening its doors to the public.
Surveillance equipment has been installed on each level of the police post, including the dormitory, allowing officers to monitor the building and surrounding areas.
Surveillance equipment has also been placed in the offices of each superior officer, giving them a first-hand look of activities in the area.
The police post is equipped with two bullet-proof rooms.
A total of 138 murders have been recorded in the area over a four-year period.
And in a first of its kind, the police post is also equipped with a mediation and computerised homework centre catering for children in the area.
The homework centre is expected to be built in other police stations.
Police stations are also expected to be built at Besson Street in Port of Spain, Manzanilla, Maracas St Joseph, St Clair, Matelot and Matura.
Two stations are to be constructed in Tobago at Old Grange and Roxborough.
