CCTV cameras installed in all Iloilo police stations

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  — Movements and activities of personnel, visitors and inmates of police stations in this city are now monitored following the installation of at least three CCTV cameras in every police stations of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO).

Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz, director of the Police Regional Office-6, led the ceremonial switch-on of CCTV cameras Wednesday at the ICPO headquarters.

Initially, only the Molo, Mandurriao, and La Paz police stations have working CCTV system, as of presstime.

ICPO director Sr. Supt. Marietto Valerio said CCTV cameras placed in Arevalo, City Proper, Jaro, and ICPO headquarters are yet to be fully fixed. “There have been some problems with the internet connections but they would work anytime from now,” he said.

The CCTV cameras were mostly installed at the front of the police station, at the information desk, and near the detention cells.

Valerio said no government money was used for the purchase of the CCTV cameras because they were donated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Iloilo, Inc.

He also did not also expound if the CCTV cameras are of the analog or the digital type. It’s just that, “we could view it through the internet,” he said.

It was assumed that the system installed at ICPO is a digital CCTV, often using Internet Protocol (IP) cameras that have the capability to convert the audio and video signals to a stream of packets that can be transmitted over the internet.

With the CCTV cameras in place, Valerio said: “We would know if something happened outside and inside the police stations. Malalaman din natin ‘yung tungkol sa attendance ng ating kapolisan and how they work and deal with the public.”

Cruz, for his part, said the putting up of CCTV cameras will form part of the PNP’s law enforcement program. He said that similar system will be installed at the municipal police stations of Iloilo province.