NATIONAL NEWS - A private security company’s unique surveillance camera project in Waverley and the Moot has met with great success in the 13 years it has been running, Rekord Moot reports.
“We absolutely believe in it,” said Reinhard Raschke, one of the owners at MCS Security.
The company has 233 CCTV cameras that cover about 30 streets.
In the beginning, the project only had 35 cameras, which were sponsored by the company itself along with residents and local businesses.
MCS invested about R2.9 miljoen in the project.
Raschke said the cameras are strategically placed in the streets of the Moot.
“We monitor them in our control room,” he said.
Raschke said during the day, these cameras only monitor the area.
“During the night is when we truly see how these cameras help to combat crime,” he said.
“The cameras have motion sensors and, during the night, if it picks up any movement, a screen will pop up in the control room with an alarm.”
He said, depending on the situation, their security officers could act accordingly.
“Most of the time, we manage to catch the criminals before they manage to enter a specific property,” he said.
He said the cameras can also pick up a vehicle’s registration number.
“If the police are looking for a suspicious vehicle and they only have a section of the registration number, we are able to type in those letters or numbers on our database and can easily find the vehicle,” he said.
Raschke recalled an incident where their camera project could successfully help track down criminals.
“There was an armed robbery in Rietondale,” he described.
“We immediately received the warning over our radios. Coincidentally, the criminals drove past one of our cameras and the police successfully caught them.”
“The place where the criminals drove past one of our cameras was far away from the place where they actually committed the crime.”
Raschke said what made their camera project so successful was that they were wireless.
“We work on our own network,” he said.
“This means that we are not dependent on other service providers – we can function without them.”
MCS security is operational in areas from East Lynne to Wonderboom South.
“Because our area is so small, we are more involved with the community,” he said.
“We know what their needs are and often tackle similar community initiatives with the local CPF, police and other organisations.”
Raschke said their camera project also shows the importance of technology.
“People get tired and easily get affected by elements, such as weather conditions – cameras do not,” he said.
“This project takes out the human element completely and replaces it with technology – and it works.”
