Robbery victim to sue city for faulty CCTV coverage
Many installed CCTV cameras have not yet been connected to stage agencies, including the police, Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra says. PATIPAT JANTHONG
Can the Bangkok city government be sued for failing to have working CCTV cameras in place that might have helped police solve a robbery? A victim is going to try.
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City Hall faces suit over B3m robbery
Supoj Wancharoen
City Hall is facing a lawsuit concerning its installation of "poor" surveillance cameras that allegedly hampered the hunt for a man who stole 3 million baht worth of assets from a property in Phutthamonthon Sai 2 Road in March.
The victim, who took his complaint to Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, is demanding compensation from City Hall over the robbery.
Bangkok governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra argued yesterday the capital's surveillance cameras were not all owned by the city, and that closed-circuit television was just one of many tools that could be used by police to track down criminals.
MR Sukhumbhand told the City Council that a company hired to install the cameras on the road had not yet completed the job as it was waiting for electrical connections to be installed. This meant many security cameras "not belonging to City Hall" in the area were not working at the time of the robbery, he said.
There are currently 92 city-owned security cameras on Phutthamonthon Sai 2 Road, but some have not yet been linked to state agencies, including police, because there is no electricity for the system, said deputy Bangkok governor Amorn Kitchawengkul.
At present, only 14,380 of 47,345 installed security cameras are connected to those agencies, MR Sukhumbhand said. The governor also said the successful arrest of wrongdoers depends on many factors apart from CCTV footage.
City Hall's cameras only aim to support police but "they are not a final answer or only solution to crimes", he said. "They can't replace an investigative procedure. They just help along an investigation," he said.
Concerning this case, Mr Amorn said, City Hall had sent footage from some working cameras to help police.
Former Democrat MP for Bangkok Watchara Phetthong claimed the footage gave police no clues about the robber.
While the robbery goes unsolved, MR Sukhumband's words telling people not to place too much hope in security cameras "make me and the victim feel very disappointed", he said. Mr Watchara is now helping the victim, whose identity is unknown, prepare to lodge a lawsuit, following the petition to Mr Abhisit.