La Solana strengthens urban video surveillance with the installation of 32 cameras

The City Council of La Solana (Ciudad Real) completes an ambitious plan for the modernization and expansion of the urban video surveillance system, which multiplies coverage at the most sensitive points of the municipality and places the town in a new scenario of preventive control, citizen security and advanced traffic management.

In total, se han instalado 32 new video cameras, to which four more corresponding to the facilities of the recycling center will be added. Of them, nine replace the previous system, which was obsolete, while the others 23 are newly created, notably expanding the existing network.

The deputy inspector-chief of the Local Police, Antonio Velasco, emphasizes that this installation fulfills “two fundamental objectives: improving citizen security, mainly in a deterrent way, y optimizar el control del tráfico mediante el uso de tecnología avanzada” y ha subrayado que se “está demostrado que las cámaras contribuyen a esclarecer hasta un 80 % de los delitos cometidos en las calles donde se instalan”. In this sense, recordó que en los recientes delitos contra la propiedad registrados en la localidad “tanto las unidades de policía judicial como la Guardia Civil del Puesto de La Solana han solicitado copia de los archivos de las cámaras de los días de los hechos”, remarcando que su uso es “parte fundamental de las investigaciones policiales”, especialmente en accesos y salidas del municipio.

El proyecto incluye la colocación de cuatro cámaras en los accesos a La Solana por las carreteras de Manzanares, Valdepeñas o Tomelloso, all of them equipped with a license plate reading system. Inside the urban area, the network is deployed in key traffic areas, such as the roundabout at the Valdepeñas road with Constitution Avenue, where two cameras have been installed; two more on Carrera Street (one at the corner with Don Rodrigo and another at the level of Canalejas Square), in addition to devices in Santa Ana Square, Cristo del Amor and Rasillo de Santa Quiteria, all of them with primary functions for traffic control. Video surveillance is also reinforced in areas with high concentration of people and social activity such as the Main Square.

The mayor of the municipality, Luisa Márquez, reminds that “when we arrived at the Town Hall we found only four or five approved and operational cameras in the entire municipal area”, some even “with the cables cut, without any deterrent effect”. Márquez points out the value of the system not only in traffic, but in public safety, and defended the protection of the officers: “We have the ethical and moral obligation to protect those who take care of us”, linking the project with other recent police reinforcement measures. In economic terms, he estimated the investment at around 30.000 euros per year for four years, contract that includes maintenance and updating.