GOJ to upgrade NWA's CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network to give Police more eyes in Private Places - The Da Vinci Code for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and 1984

“CCTV is a very useful tool in law enforcement. Besides the obvious value of the actual footage in solving cases, the systems also serve as deterrents for criminal activities. Within the context of the recent Boston bombing, it is interesting to note that much of the CCTV images (and still photographs) came from private and business cameras and not principally from public infrastructure. Even in Jamaica where the police and the NWA have a limited CCTV coverage, many cases have been solved with assistance of the CCTV footage from local businesses”

National Security Minister Peter Bunting speaking on the relevance of an islandwide HD (High Definition) CCTV (Close Circuit Television) Network as quoted in the Sunday Observer, April 21st 2013

At long last, the GOJ (Government of Jamaica), JCF (Jamaica Constabulary Force) and apparently the NRSC (National Road and Safety Council) and now the resistant Jamaican Public aka John Q Public are on the same page as relates to HD CCTV Network in Public places to deter and capture would-be criminals.

All of a sudden, and quite conveniently too, they ALL are now are interested in having an islandwide HD (High Definition) CCTV (Close Circuit Television) Network installed across the island as stated in the article “Lessons from Boston - Cops want more CCTVs”, published Sunday April 21, 2013, by Glenroy Sinclair, The Jamaica Gleaner.

More interestingly, and unknown to the Public, the GOJ is planning to use the 100MBps capable Fiber Optic Network being built by Telecom Provider LIME and Triple Play Provider FLOW and paid for by the UAFCL (Universal Access Fund Company Limited) as implied in the article “Gov't installing platform for islandwide CCTV coverage”, published Sunday, April 21, 2013 BY KARYL WALKER Editor — Crime/Court Desk, The Jamaica Observer.

It seems they’re by the speed at which in which the 2 suspects Tamerland Tsarnaev, 26, and his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19 were identified. The pair were responsible for the dual-explosion Boston Marathon Bombings.

A successful manhunt launched based on a combination of HD CCTV Network footage as well as civic minded citizens send in eyewitness footage filmed with smartphones and by Friday April 19^th 2013, Tamerland Tsarnaev was killed in a shootout with the police while trying to rob a convenience store near MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was arrested while hiding out in a boat. He’s to eventually be charged for killing three (3) persons and injuring some 150 to 170 persons in the dual bombing incidents.

It also appears the Jamaican Police are in agreement with the Minister of Security Peter Bunting as is evidence in this quote from Superintendent of Police Delroy Hewitt: “I 100 per cent support the investment in surveillance cameras. It can do a lot in our fight against crime," said Hewitt, who has lived a life fighting crime in some of the island's most troubled police divisions, among them St Andrew South and Kingston West”.

This is an interesting about face, especially for the Jamaican Police, as the last time the Police spoke on a HD CCTV Network, it was related to the implementation of an Automated Traffic Ticketing System in May 2012 as per the article “STOP IT! - NRSC calls for electronic monitoring of Traffic signals”, published Sunday May 6, 2012 by Tyrone Reid, Senior Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

In that article, the Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Traffic Division, Radcliffe Lewis had spoken against it saying, quote: “Right now, because of the economic crisis facing the country, (the Government) is not in a position to do that even though it would assist us in our Crime-fighting efforts as well. The country is just not in a position to entertain a venture that cost that amount of money”.

This comments by Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Traffic Division, Radcliffe Lewis was in response to Executive Director of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), Paula Fletcher request for a HD CCTV Network, the so called Automated Traffic Ticketing System that she had first brought the issue to life in July 2009 as stated in the article “CCTV speed Traps - Surveillance Cams to track Road Hogs” published Monday July 13, 2009 by Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This as was captured in my blog article entitled “Handheld Traffic Ticketing Units for Jamaican Police a success but no Automated Traffic Ticketing System - GOJ fears the All Seeing Eyes of CCTV” in which I’d surmised the real reason was a Government fear of these very HD CCTV Network powered Automated Traffic Ticketing System and the required Legal changes resulting in themselves and their supporters being implicated in Criminal Activity.

So where did this all begin?

Back then in July 2009 I’d chronicled this in my blog article entitled “Information on the Automated Ticketing System”, detailing how it would be implemented and it’s legal implications, as a lot of Law would have to be change for the police to use Video, Still Images and Audio Recordings  in lieu of Sworn Witness Testimony in court to convict persons of Traffic Offences.

By extension Crimes committed that may be captured by the system and in some cases, may be the ONLY material evidence of criminal activity. It would also be useful in apprehending criminals fleeing the scene of a Crime in motor vehicles. Back then too, I’d suggested the use of a Wireless Telecoms Network from either Telecom Provider with enough Bandwidth to carry the Signaling from HD CCTV Network required, as many would be in remote areas where no Broadband Internet exists.

All that seemed set to change on Wednesday February 9^th 2011 when Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding made mention of the coming of such an Automated Electronic Traffic Ticketing System as stated in the article “New Ticketing System to collect billions in unpaid fines”, published Friday, February 11^th 2011 20:41 by JIS News.

Later in February 2011, I’d chronicled the implementation of the Handheld Wireless Ticketing System for the Jamaican Police, which was done in a bid to increase Traffic Ticket revenue inflows into the coffers of the GOJ as detailed in my blog article entitled “Motorist, NRSC and the New Traffic Ticket System - Nowhere to Run”.  In that article I’d hoped that they’d also clamp down on the use of Cellphones while driving.

Over this time, I’ve tracked the success Handheld Wireless Ticketing System in April 2012 and the strange reluctance of the GOJ to implement a HD CCTV Network as noted in my blog article entitled  “Handheld Traffic Ticketing Units for Jamaican Police a success but no Automated Traffic Ticketing System - GOJ fears the All Seeing Eyes of CCTV” of which I’ve already noted above: GOJ doesn’t like the Jamaican Police having access to an All Seeing Eye type of System

In Tandem I also tracked the NRSC in tackling this most important of Manslaughter Crimes, Road Traffic Fatalities. I’d also detailed the means of implementing, both Legal and Infrastructural as well as the benefits of such an Automated Traffic Ticketing System via a suitable Contractor who’d be paid in part by Traffic Ticket Fines as detailed in my blog article entitled “NRSC to reach 300 Road Traffic Fatalities in 2011AD – Contractor Mad Money for Automatic Traffic Ticketing System”.

In summary, the following would be required for the successful implementation of an Automated Traffic Ticketing System:

1.      A camera based, Facial Recognition Database empowered islandwide Automated Electronic Traffic Ticketing System

2.      Use of the CCN (Constabulary Communication Network) NOC (Network Operating Center) to monitor the Live Video, Still Image and Audio Recording from the HD CCTV Network

3.      Massive Server Storage Network provided by GovNet being built by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining along with giving Government Minister Tablets in a bid to reduce paper as stated in my blog article entitled “GOJ Parliamentarians upgraded to Microsoft Surface Tablets and GovNET Wide Area Network - Minister Paulwell efforts to reduce paper may accelerate Jamaican Tablet Adoption”

4.      The necessary legislative changes in the Criminal Offences Act, the Offences Against the Persons Act and the Charter on Rights and Freedoms or any other Acts to allow for electronic recordings i.e. still Photographs or Audio, be they Digital or Analog at the time of recording to be admissible in lieu of a fearful first Person witness

5.      Handheld ticketing units for Jamaican Police

6.      An islandwide ban on the use of Mobile phone while driving or doing anything else in the car while driving

That was in July 2009 to April 2012. 

It is now April 2013, some three years and nine months (3 years, 9 months) since Executive Director of the National Road Safety Council (NRSC), Paula Fletcher originally floated this idea in July 2009 and exactly one (1) year since the Jamaican Police started using the Handheld Traffic Ticketing System and Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Traffic Division, Radcliffe Lewis made his comments about the GOJ not being able to afford an Automated Traffic Ticketing System.

All of a sudden, quite coincidentally, an event, Boston Marathon Bombings covered extensively in the foreign Media brings to fore the importance of HD CCTV Network footage in solving Crime. This is very convenient for the Government of Jamaica, the Jamaican Police and the NRSC, indeed!

Faced with an increasing incidence of Praedial Larceny, Simple Larceny, Robberies, Rapes even as Murder is on the decline, this sudden Renaissance of an old idea so dramatically presented on Foreign Media now makes it relatively easy for the State to argue for increased Surveillance with little opposition for concerned Civic Society Groups.  

As for Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Traffic Division, Radcliffe Lewis, the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) can easily argue that his opinions on the Automated Traffic Ticketing System may not reflect those of the entire Jamaica Police Force. After all, he’s a Senior Superintendent of Police, not the Minister of Finance!

In fact, the cost of implementing such an Automated Traffic Ticketing System with the veiled intent to have more electronics eyes in more places to deter criminal activity and make it easier to capture criminals using Video, Still Images and Audio Recordings appears to no longer be a concern! This as explained in the article “Gov't installing platform for islandwide CCTV coverage”, published Sunday, April 21, 2013 BY KARYL WALKER Editor — Crime/Court Desk, The Jamaica Observer.

It appears that the GOJ has decided to annex the NWA’s Traffic Monitoring Network with the Fiber Optic Network originally designed to bring 100MBps Broadband Internet to Three hundred (300) High Schools islandwide as described in my blog article entitled “LIME, FLOW and the $JA543-million Internet plan - Ebony and Ivory”.

This would explain the reference to two (2) Private Contractors, which are basically Telecom Provider LIME and Triple Play Provider FLOW, whose build-out is being paid for by the UAFCL (Universal Access Fund Company Limited), a fund made up of Taxes collected from the very same Telecom Providers.  Thus it’s basically low budget or virtually free, way below the millions of dollars estimated by Senior Superintendent of Police and Head of the Jamaica Constabulary Force's Traffic Division, Radcliffe Lewis.

Even more interestingly, as the Telecoms Taxes have been recently increased as promised my blog article entitled “GOJ taxes Telecom Providers and OUR sets Cross Network and International Calling Rate at JA$5.00 - Data Services Prometheus”, the GOJ has more than enough money to upgrade the NWA ageing Traffic Monitoring Network with a bristling new array of Modern HD CCTV Network and to add them to the Fiber Optic Network.

And yes, all at no direct cost to the Tax payer, as its basically increased Taxes going into the UAFCL that are being used to fund the build out of this HD CCTV Network. Sorta like the unclaimed lotto wining of Lotto players that goes to the CHASE Fund as described in my blog article entitled “3rd Jamaican wins JA$186 million Super Lotto Prize yet to collect prize - How to win Supreme Ventures Limited Super Lotto as Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters wait till March 28 2013” being commandeered to do something that’s equally worthwhile.

In case you think this is a compromise of the original project, it isn’t. Traditionally before launching any Telecom Network, which is what this Private Fiber Optic HD CCTV Network is basically, it usually customary to float live traffic generated by the Technicians working on the Network as a means of locating bottlenecks and problems.

Network Planners know that not everything can be spotted by the Network Analysis Models. So allowing heavy Data Traffic in the form of Real-time video coming from an upgraded NWA Traffic Monitoring Network to be piggybacked unto the 100Mbps Fiber Optic Network being built originally for providing 100MBps Internet is a simple forward thinking idea.

Test the boat to see if she and float before putting the ship out to Sea.

Later on, based on how the Network handles the Traffic, they can add more Fiber Optic Capacity either by activating more spare Fiber Cables or upgrading the Firmware of physical Hardware of the Fiber Optic Transmit and Receive, thus making it capable of Carrying BOTH live Video, Still Images as well as Audio Recording Traffic AND the Data Traffic for the 300 High Schools simultaneously.

The Jamaican Police can use the CCN (Constabulary Communication Network) NOC (Network Operating Center) to monitor the Live Video, Still Image and Audio Recording from the HD CCTV Network.  As for the long term storage of the Video, Still Images as well as Audio can be stored in Server Storage Network provided by GovNet and can be also used a depository for these records, which are really records for the State.

This is being built by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining along with giving Government Minister Tablets in a bid to reduce paper as stated in my blog article entitled “GOJ Parliamentarians upgraded to Microsoft Surface Tablets and GovNET Wide Area Network - Minister Paulwell efforts to reduce paper may accelerate Jamaican Tablet Adoption”.

So there you have it. The Automated Traffic Ticketing System is coming via this upgrade of NWA’s CCTV Traffic Monitoring Network.  So too will be legislative changes to make it possible for the Police to use theses HD (High Definition) CCTV Cameras in lieu of Sworn Witness statements in Legal Proceedings against Criminal suspects.

MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and MRSI (Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Information) to make Phone Records and Geo-Location Data going back several years accessible to the Jamaican Police as per my blog article entitled “OUR applies for new Area Code for Jamaica - Competition in Telecoms in the coming Hunger Games Catching Fire of Mobile Computing”.

Throw in the possibility that we might also have eyes in the sky as well via Drones as noted in my blog article entitled “GOJ can develope UAV's as a means of giving the Police eyes in the sky - Inspiration for Aviators in Jamaica via G.I. Joe Retaliation”, and by 2014, the Jamaican Police will have no excuse as to why the Crime Rate’s so high.

In effect, this is The Da Vinci Code (2006) for Automated Traffic Ticketing System and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984).