The Kenya government will now allow buildings in the country to connect their surveillance feeds with the police for better security enhancement, after an underway project meant to monitor public areas in both Nairobi and Mombasa in completed.
Through the project, a total of about 1,800 CCTV surveillance cameras are expected to be set up in the streets of the two cities as well as other select public places to help the police spot and deal with crimes more effectively.
Building owners who would want to improve their security will be able to have the police view their surveillance feeds through the police command centre that is being set up at the National Police Service at Jogoo House to oversee security in the capital.
This new directive came as president Kenyatta and his deputy visited the centre to see how far the project had gone and what measures were being taken to see completion and launch of the surveillance system.
The to-be state of the art high-tech security system is planned to be completed in May this year for service beginning in the two cities but with further plans to roll out the services across other major towns later.
Private establishments that may not be in the police cameras radar will also be able to have their feeds linked to the command and control centre by liaising with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Ministry of Land and Housing as well as the transport sector who will be responsible.
And as security in the country continues to plague citizens with horrific images of the recent terrorist attacks that have taken place in the country, the police will also be issued with radios that will also incorporate video capabilities in addition to voice service through two cameras, one at the front and one at the back.
The modern radio set with video support will allow police officers across the regions to access incident video messages wherever they are for easy and quick response to the scene and follow up of the crimes.
About 7,600 officers are planned to receive the radio equipments during the first phase of the project, which will include a mapping system, central command for the communication system, video conferencing systems in addition to the video surveillance and the digital radios set to replace walkie talkies.
