Bahrain's Police Force has gone high-tech in the fight against crime by installing 3,000 CCTV cameras at key locations across the country.
Ministry Assistant Under-Secretary for Planning and Organization Lieutenant Mansoor Al Hajeri said high-tech systems had revolutionized the way the ministry operated.
He said the Ministry had a CCTV network with about 3,000 cameras spread across the country. These include 195 at the Bahrain International Airport, 50 at King Fahad Causeway and between 50 and 100 in various malls, while others located in banks, hotels, and other key areas. The Interior Ministry also has more than 200 cameras in its various departments and police stations.
'From the control room we can respond when anything happens in these areas,' said Lt Al Hajeri.
'There will also be an alarm coming from the bank or hotel to our control room where we can see the incident. We have four cars which have CCTV that can record for two months and see up to 2.5km, we also have data, video and voice access, satellite and first aid facilities. We use these cars for VIP protection and to help the fire brigade as well as for public safety. We also have connectivity to GSM so we can send images to the control room,’ he added.
He said the Ministry's various departments were connected through IT systems, such as data and telephone networks. 'We have 18 control rooms connected to this network and they include Internet, e-mail, criminal database, human resources, financial crime, Geographic Information System (GIS) applications such as maps and automatics vehicle location,' said Lt Al Hajeri.
'In terms of emergency, we are connected with the organization so we are in control if anything happens. The telephone network we run has both voice and video so we can talk and see each other. Our helicopters and cars are able to send video and data to our control room.'