Security cameras that could have helped identify two vans believed to have been the cause of an accident on Sunday night were of no help after it was discovered that they were not connected to a power source.
A 35-year-old scooter driver surnamed Hsu (徐) was left in a coma after trying to avoid two vans that allegedly made an illegal left turn at a red light on Minquan E Road in Taipei, witnesses said.
They said Hsu crashed into a sidewalk while avoiding the two vans, adding that the two drivers fled the scene.
Photo: Huang Chung-jung, Taipei Times
After being contacted by police, Hsu’s wife asked to see a video of the accident from a surveillance camera at the scene. However, there was no video because the camera was not connected to a power source.
“The surveillance camera could have provided images of the vans and helped us find the drivers, but we are unable to do so because the Taipei City Government failed to connect the system to an electrical source,” she told a press conference at Taipei City Council yesterday.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), who accompanied Hsu at the press conference, said 3,802 of the 13,699 surveillance cameras around the city were not connected to electrical outlets or wireless systems.
The site of the accident, on Minquan E Road Sec 6, was one of the 10 streets in the city with the highest traffic accident rate last year, she said.
However, only 61 of the 112 surveillance cameras installed along the area had power connections, she said.
“The city government pledged to reduce the crime rate by installing surveillance cameras around the city, but half are not functioning. How can this help improve public security if so many cameras are nothing but decorations?” Kao said.
The installation of surveillance cameras throughout 12 districts and at major crime hotspots was part of the “zero tolerance for crime” policy that Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) implemented to improve public safety.
The city government budgeted NT$160 million (US$5 million) to install the cameras and was originally scheduled to complete installation in January.
Chang Chiu-yi (張久宜), chief of the Taipei City Police Department’s Crime Prevention Division, acknowledged the delay in installation and said the 3,802 cameras had yet to be connected to power sources because they were located on roads that were recently resurfaced — part of another major policy of the Hau administration, improving roads.
As the installation of surveillance camera power connections involves digging up roads, contractors are required to apply with the city government before such work can be carried out.
Chang said the department was negotiating with the city government and the contractor to accelerate the underground construction that will connect the cameras to power sources and would seek to complete the project by the end of this year.
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