Dark spots to be turned safe zones by Dec-end

Visakhapatnam: Those indulging in anti-social activities and various crimes in Visakhapatnam will no longer get away scot-free as Visakhapatnam police are all set to intensify their vigilance across the city.

For long, offenders converted dark spots and places where CCTV cameras are not present into their ‘adda’ to indulge in anti-social activities. The city police identified that in most cases, a majority of crimes happen to be in such vulnerable zones. With the focus more on such crime hotspots, the areas that lack appropriate lighting and the ones that are not equipped with CCTV cameras, the police intend to increase its vigilance to bring down the crime rate.

Carrying out a detailed survey for the past couple of months, the city police traced dark spots across Visakhapatnam.

So far, about 500 such crime hotspots have been identified in various localities. “For the convenience of intensifying the vigilance, the identified hotspots have been classified into two categories, law and order and crime. Open drinking, consuming ganja, involving in prostitution, gambling, etc., will be monitored by a wing, while property offences, pick-pocketing, chain-snatching and other offences fall under another category,” Shankhabrata Bagchi explained.

In order to educate people, the city police carried out a number of awareness programmes and encouraged those residing in gated communities, apartment complexes and commercial units, and at religious centres, hotels and restaurants and places where large crowds are gathered to install CCTV cameras as part of the Public Safety Act.

Earlier, the city police commissioner interacted with Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation commissioner P Sampath Kumar regarding enhancing the streetlight facility, increasing the installation of CCTV cameras along with their maintenance. “Based on the requirement, CSR funds from various companies will be considered for improving the CCTV surveillance across the city,” informed Shankhabrata Bagchi. With more footfalls being registered at beach road, efforts are on to improve lighting facilities along the stretch. By intensifying its vigilance, the city police intend to transform vulnerable spots into safer zones in Visakhapatnam ahead of the New Year.