Today saw the launch of Be City Smart, a ground-breaking Cape Town initiative that repurposes actual CCTV footage of street crimes and posts it online for public education. The project is a collaboration between the City of Cape Town’s Metropolitan Police, Y&R South Africa and The Safety Lab – the latter being an innovation and test centre established by Western Cape Government with a focus on safety and security in the province.
The Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID), which provides top up services in safety and security on the streets of the Cape Town CBD, has given The Safety Lab’s Be City Smart project a big thumbs up, says CCID chief operating officer Tasso Evangelinos. “Public awareness is two-thirds of the battle won against these types of crimes. This project speaks directly to educating people as to how easy it can be to become a victim if you expose yourself to an opportunistic criminal.”
The most common crimes captured on tape include ATM scams, pickpocketing, bag snatching, smash-and-grabs, remote car jamming and break-and-takes out of parked cars.
CCTV footage provides powerful insights into the modus operandi of criminals. It also reveals how the public can be more proactive in taking responsibility for their own safety. Until recently, however, this footage has not been available for public viewing.
The collaborative partners have been exploring ways to recycle CCTV footage for public benefit. A comic book called CCTVision was developed, towards the end of 2012, with 50 000 copies distributed interpersonally by Metro Police officers and on-the-ground during Cape Town’s busy summer holiday season. In March 2014 the team launched #longstreetsmart, projecting edited CCTV footage of actual crimes in the immediate vicinity where they occurred, on mobile billboards. The initiative was recently awarded first place in the Outdoor category by international website www.bestadsontv.com.
The launch of the Be City Smart website, www.BeCitySmart.co.za, on 14 October 2014 represents an important project milestone. The site offers an engaging online repository of creatively repurposed CCTV footage, together with essential safety information related to street crimes. Careful editing ensures that the identities of victims and suspects captured on CCTV are protected. Be City Smart empowers individuals to be savvier about their own safety, and makes it easy for them to alert friends and family to street crime types via social media.
For more information go to www.becitysmart.co.za.
For further inquiry, please contact Gil Lang at The Safety Lab: email gil@safetylab.co.za, call 079 960 5299 or visit www.safetylab.co.za.