The first video surveillance cameras, which will help the police of the seaport to monitor the central streets of the town, started to function in Klaipėda. Plans are made to install 57 video surveillance cameras till the end of the year.

“Video surveillance cameras should improve the safety of the locals and the visitors of the city. I am glad that the first video surveillance cameras have been installed before the start of the summer season when tourist flow is expected and the order of the city is much more difficult to monitor” – Viačeslav Karmanov, the Deputy Administration Director of Klaipėda City Municipality Administration, said.

The first 10 cameras have been installed in the central part of the city – in the Theatre Square, Lietuvininkų Square, Puodžių Street, near Jono kalnelis and in Piliavietė. As the camera network expands the cameras will also be installed in other parts of the city centre which are frequently visited by the locals and the visitors of the city.

“The first video surveillance cameras have been installed at such points where the majority of the criminal acts and administrative offences are committed. Most of them are committed in the old town of Klaipėda. That is determined by the long working hours of the places of entertainment, the large number of local residents, visitors and tourists and the fact that the city festivals take place there. The monitoring of the city centre using video surveillance cameras is expected to reduce the amount of the vandalism, stealing and robberies and the number of cases of alcoholic beverage consumption in public places” – Benonas Ivanauskas, Commissioner General of Klaipėda Police, said.

The scenes filmed by the installed cameras are broadcasted live to the monitoring station and are automatically recorded and stored in a special server room. The records will be stored for 14 days, so the police will be able to identify an offence while examining the archive if not noted on spot. As more than a half of the cameras will be controlled from the monitoring centre, the officers will be able to direct camera to the suspected object remotely, zoom in and out the image. When the project is fully implemented the officers will be able to see the scenes in 15 displays.
According to Vytautas Zinkevičius, the Development Director of Fima, the video surveillance camera system of Klaipėda will be on the leading edge of such networks in Lithuania. “We install cameras of a very high quality in the seaport. They will be able to zoom in the image more than 30 times, so even the objects which are 150 meters away will be clearly visible. The system will switch to the night vision mode in the dark. In addition, the system will automatically inform if the vandals break the cameras or other devices. In case of an interruption in the power supply, the reserve power sources will be used.

The network of video surveillance cameras in Klaipėda is based on the IP technology, so it will not be difficult to expand the network in the future or to move a camera from one place to another. The image transmission and recording technology which is installed in Klaipėda is also used in London and other cities of England and other countries.

The video surveillance camera system in Klaipėda is the second of its kind in Lithuania installed by Fima. The company had previously installed the network of more than 100 cameras in the capital city. “According to the data of Vilnius City Police, the number of crimes was decreased by approximately 40 per cent in the monitored places within one year. During the period of 2005-2007 the police recorded approximately 7 thousand offences and arrested 8.6 thousand persons” – Mr Zinkevičius states. Using the cameras, Vilnius City Police records road traffic offences, traffic incidents, identifies persons which consume alcoholic beverages in public, notice intoxicated persons lying on the ground and other violations.

The video surveillance camera network will cost LTL 5.5 million for Klaipėda City Municipality. Under the agreement Fima will ensure the maintenance of the video surveillance camera system and assume the risk related to the inflation and growth of wages. The municipality will not incur any additional costs related to power supply, communications and maintenance.