Paphos municipality has installed 55 cameras in public spaces to tackle crime and vandalism of public property, Acting Mayor of Paphos Angelos Onisiforou said at a broad meeting held today at Paphos Municipal Hall to discuss specific measures against the growing problem of vandalism in the city’s public spaces.
The meeting, chaired by Onisiforou, was attended by the Mayors of Akamas and Polis Chrysochous, Marinos Lambrou and Yiotis Papachristofi, Deputy Mayor of Ierokipia Andreas Siikkis, and representatives of the Paphos District Local Government Organisation (DLGO), the Paphos Police Directorate and other relevant departments.
Onisiforou said the relevant state departments had already given pre-approval for a further 60 cameras to be installed in public spaces, once the municipality puts the necessary infrastructure in place to allow them to operate independently. He said this specifically requires installing poles to hold the cameras, fitting them with solar panels so they can run without a mains power connection, and equipping the cameras with memory cards capable of storing 20 to 30 days of footage.
He stressed that it is now important for all authorities across the wider area to adopt a common approach to the issue, to make the protection of public property and the response to anti-social behaviour effective. As part of this, he said, there would be a specific protocol for storing and reviewing footage, involving representatives of local authorities and police, to ensure the recordings are used properly.
“Our goal is not for the municipalities of Paphos district to become ‘big brother’, but to protect their property,” he concluded.
The Mayors of Akamas and Polis Chrysochous, Marinos Lambrou and Yiotis Papachristofi, and the Deputy Mayor of Ierokipia, Andreas Siikkis, agreed to jointly promote the measures put forward by the Acting Mayor of Paphos and authorised him to liaise with the relevant state departments to arrange what is needed to allow the installation and operation of surveillance systems in their public spaces.
