1400 licence-plate recognition cameras to be installed in Johannesburg

Security company Fidelity and CCTV company Vumacam will roll out 1400 licence-plate recognition cameras across dozens of Johannesburg suburbs by the end of December 2020.

The two companies partnered up earlier in 2020 to roll out a smart camera network with 27 poles with 27 licence plate recognition (LPR) cameras and 54 overview cameras across Bassonia, Glenvista, Mulbarton and Glenanda in Johannesburg. This has now been extended to cover 75 Johannesburg surburbs, including Bedfordview, Eden Glen, Johannesburg North and more.

The fibre-connected cameras are linked to Vumacam’s tier three data centre, which feeds the livestream in real time to the Fidelity ADT command and control centre in Ulwazi campus, Midrand. Footage is stored securely for 30 days.

“The Vumacam infrastructure ensures world-class technology and data privacy which allows us to manage footage responsibly and better integrate analytics on flagged crime incidents across all Vumacam cameras nationally,” said Fidelity Services Group CEO Wahl Bartmann.

“We believe that Vumacam’s infrastructure and technology will enable Fidelity to deliver an optimal service to our customers.”

At the time of the first installation, Bartmann explained that this move was inspired by communities taking a more proactive stance to local security requirements following an increase in crime.

“They believe there is a need to look to solutions that coordinate law enforcement and private security company solutions to effectively deal with criminal activity in their areas of residence,” he said.

“Crime fighting needs to be done in an organised and collaborative manner and linking the largest public space CCTV network with the largest security fleet in the country will certainly make a big impact on crime,” said Vumacam CEO, Ricky Croock.

Picture: Vumacam