Bar brawls: Poor quality CCTV footage of little help to cops

Even though a number of restaurants and discotheques in the city have installed Close Circuit Television Cameras inside and outside their premises

Even though a number of restaurants and discotheques in the city have installed Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTVs) inside and outside their premises,they seem to be of little help in identifying people especially during brawls and violent incidents.

Pubs and discotheques have been in the news for the all the wrong reasons as in the recent past as two violent incidents have taken place outside such establishments. The CCTV cameras which have been installed perform reasonably well during the daytime,but their footage quality is severely reduced during the nights as most of the cameras lack night vision capability. Panning and zooming facility is also not available and majority of the cameras are just fixed to a spot.

The owners of these establishments have gone for quantity rather than quality. The recent incidents of violence started from the parking and then moved on to the pubs or discs and have taken place between 2 to 2.30 in the morning.

Tao lounge,Sector 26,where 15 assailants created a ruckus on September 24,has 20 cameras installed inside the establishment while 3 cameras have been fixed outside; 2 for discotheque entry behind the building and one for the front entrance. The authorities have installed a high resolution camera with night vision after the recent attack to keep a proper tab on the people.

Voodoo lounge and bar which is also located in the Sector 26,was also allegedly attacked by five persons who fired gunshots and broke the glass door of the bar.

We have a total of seven cameras in our building and two out of them have been installed on the entrance of the bar. The video from these cameras can be stored for a period of 30 days. In future,we would think over the possibility of installing better cameras as they are quite costly, said Colonel Sandeep Bhanot,owner of the Voodoo lounge.

He added that it was the job of the administration to cover the parking area as installing high resolution cameras everywhere is not financially feasible for them.

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Speaking to Newsline,JS Khaira,Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP East) said,The pubs and discotheques where such incidents take place hand over the footage,but the footage is generally in these cases are of poor quality. It would be better if the the cameras which have been installed also have night vision so that quality footage can be recorded.

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