08/02/2007 00:00
TW
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STAFF REPORTER

PALMA
THIEVES taking advantage of innocent people on Palma's buses have had their day. Palma City Council are installing closed circuit security cameras on line numbers 3 and 15 of the municipal service run by EMT.

Announcing the project, Citizen Safety and Transport deputy, Alvar Gijon, spoke convincingly yesterday in Palma of his belief that the video installlations on these bus routes will have a highly successful impact on reducing the number of robberies from passengers.

Gijon said that the reason these particular routes had been chosen was because statistically, they produce the highest figures of reported incidents and petty crime throughout the city's transport. It was no coincidence, believed Gijon that line numbers 3 and 15 were those which ran latest into the evening, up to 11pm. He said it was partly due to this fact that the buses on these routes needed most protection.

The deputy reported that it was now “nothing new for there to be at least one set of legal proceedings taken out each week by travellers on these lines, especially during the summer months.” At this point, he continued, the Council was now going to keep an eye on how the installation of the video cameras actually come to help reduce crime. Over a period of 48 hours, the equipment will be recording “everything that takes place inside the bus.” This, he claimed, is going to make anyone with criminal intentions think twice about attempting to rob other passengers.

Gijon added however, that the new security measures will not put an end to the collaboration that the municipal bus company have traditionally had with the National and Local Police who have long held a policy of riding on the buses dressed in civilian clothing to keep a watch on potential thieves preying on unwary passengers.

Time will tell if the new system brings the desired results, and if indeed the number of robberies on routes 3 and 15 start to fall dramatically, then similar security systems will be installed on other routes in and around the capital.

Gijon highlighted the fact that the measures are being taken in the context of citizen safety, for which he is responsible and has the well-being of the “man in the street” in mind.