Due to a power outages in Mykolaiv, it is not possible to count the faulty CCTV cameras

In Mykolaiv, authorities are unable to determine how many CCTV cameras are out of action due to technical faults. Photo: «NikVesti» archive

In Mykolaiv, due to a power cut, it is currently not possible to determine the exact number of cameras in the city’s CCTV system that are not working specifically because of technical faults.

This came to light during a staff meeting at Mykolaiv City Council, according to NikVesti.

In total, 701 CCTV cameras are connected to the city’s «Safe City» system. As of August, 124 of them were not working. However, up-to-date data on their operational status is currently unavailable.

Andrii Volkov, the Executive Committee’s Chief of Staff, explained that due to constant changes to power cut schedules, it is difficult to determine which cameras are not working due to a lack of electricity and which have technical issues.

«I cannot say (how many cameras are not working, — note), because the schedules are constantly changing and make it impossible to determine.» «We will adapt this analysis to the power cut schedules so that we can distinguish between issues caused by power cuts and those caused by technical problems,» said Andrii Volkov.

Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych pointed out that it is possible to simply count the cameras that are not working even when the power is on. He instructed that such information be compiled.

«Roughly speaking, if a camera is currently switched off but is later switched on, it could be down to the power supply. But if a camera remains switched off consistently throughout the week, that means it is not working. I need to know the number of such cameras,» explained the mayor.

During the meeting, access to the city’s CCTV system was also discussed. Yevhen Bohachenko, director of the municipal enterprise «City Information and Computing Centre», explained that access is granted upon request from law enforcement agencies in accordance with the system’s operating procedures approved by the city council.

«We have access authorised until the end of the year. In December, we will issue a reminder that requests for access must be renewed, specifying the purpose of the access and who requires it,» added Yevhen Bohachenko.

As is known, on 30 July, members of the Mykolaiv City Council supported an appeal to the Cabinet of Ministers regarding changes to the rules governing the operation of the automated traffic offence detection system.

The city proposed resolving two issues. The first is to allow local authorities to install cameras as a preventative measure, rather than waiting until a particular stretch of road is designated as a black spot for road traffic accidents. The second is to review the distribution of funds from fines in favour of local budgets in cases where the cameras were purchased and installed at the community’s expense.

However, the National Police identified risks in Mykolaiv’s proposal to install more automatic enforcement cameras and to allow the city to retain a larger share of the revenue from fines.