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ofJens Joachim
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shut down
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The controversial video surveillance system with 17 cameras has been put into operation at Darmstadt’s Luisenplatz. Two thirds of the costs of 400,000 euros are borne by the state.
Just a few days before the local elections on March 14th, they had already been installed on three masts with publicity. However, it took almost three more months until the controversial video surveillance system at Darmstadt’s Luisenplatz was put into operation.
Video surveillance in Darmstadt: 17 cameras focus on Luisenplatz
Since Monday, the hustle and bustle in the central square in the city center, where many buses and trams stop, has been filmed around the clock by 17 cameras. The city council had already decided to purchase the 400,000 euro system in 2019.
On the occasion of the commissioning, Hesse’s Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) also came to Darmstadt to inspect the facility, accompanied by Mayor Jochen Partsch (Greens), the outgoing mayor and Darmstadt regulatory officer Rafael Reisser (CDU) and Police President Bernhard Lammel. According to Beuth, the state provided the city with two thirds of the acquisition costs, i.e. 264,000 euros.
Images from Luisenplatz are transmitted to the city guard and the police
The scenes recorded by the cameras on the 14,000 square meter square are broadcast in three places: to the city guard on Wilhelminenstrasse, only a few meters away from Luisenplatz, to the first police station on Bismarckstrasse, only a few hundred meters away, and to the police headquarters on the Klappacher Strasse.
Mayor Partsch said that with some older people there was “a feeling of insecurity” when they were on Luisenplatz. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 151 street crimes were recorded on Luisenplatz last year.
Darmstadt: At the start of video surveillance, bistro tables in view
The cameras should be switched off during demonstrations. Contrary to the promises, however, some areas of the outdoor catering had not yet been made unrecognizable on Monday afternoon. The city watch monitors showed people sitting at bistro tables, eating cake and drinking coffee.
Mayor Reisser assured that the camera settings would have to be adjusted due to the corona-related enlargement of the outdoor dining areas. But that should be done by Monday evening.
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