Push to talk against crime
LINDEN - ADT hands over push to talk devices for a safer suburb.
American District Telegraph (ADT) officially handed over the push to talk (PTT) devices, at the Linden Police station recently.
The PTT devices are cell phone like gadgets used for communication purposes in the licence plate recognition project.
The devices were coined in a joint initiative between the community, police and ADT.
“We are trying to stop crime before it even happens,” said operations manager, Fareed Hoosen, of the Linden Neighborhood Watch (LNW).
“If criminals come in the area planning to commit a crime or having committed one before, they may pass through a camera and we will contact each other and quickly make an arrest,” he added.
ADT has installed eight licence recognition cameras around Linden. These cameras monitor suspected vehicles and those that might have been involved in criminal incidents to help police make arrests.
ADT staff monitors the cameras externally through a control room in the area. The control room is linked to the PTT handsets which are held by police and neighbourhood watch.
All vehicle registration numbers are monitored by the section commander prior to being added to the suspect list pool.
“We don’t want to pull over innocent people, so I check and verify all information before any vehicle is added into the list,” explained warrant officer Sarel Bredenhand.
The multi million rand system is fully endorsed by the LNW, Linden Community Association and the police.
According to community development manager, Kerwyn Fortune, “the software has been researched and developed by ADT in partnership with Geovision and the technology is considered to be the most advanced in the country”.
Leisl-Mae Fourie, Sector two chairperson, remarked that “the community is getting more and more involved, getting to know their neighbours and taking part in community initiatives”.
Fourie warned residents that these cameras are not CCTV cameras but they are specifically programmed to read licence plate numbers which are loaded on the system.
She urged residents to contribute towards purchasing more cameras. There are 21 cameras needed in total to secure Linden.
ADT clients pay R75, 00 and non ADT client pays R99, 00 towards the camera installations.
Details: Kerwyn Fortune 086 121 2400.
