| The Moscow metro is preparing cameras for terrorists Video surveillance systems that monitor almost the entire territory of the London underground did not protect the British capital from terrorist attacks, but became a model for copying by Russian intelligence services. At yesterday's press conference, the head of the Moscow Metro, Dmitry Gaev, announced the completion of research and development work and the beginning of the “real implementation” of a new high-tech security system in the Moscow metro. Mr. Gaev himself described the upcoming work as follows: “We have to create a total video surveillance system.”
This year, 1.7 billion rubles have been allocated from the federal budget. to protect the Moscow metro from terrorism. It is assumed that, first of all, this money will be used to create a unified radio space, because, according to Mr. Gaev, “now there is virtually no radio communication underground.” The new system, which is expected to be put into operation by 2007, will not only provide reliable communications to operational services underground, but will also allow real-time broadcasting of images from any subway television camera to a single crisis center. “Video surveillance will be carried out over all passenger areas, cameras will be installed in places where there is no constant presence of metro and police officers,” said the head of the metro, adding that passengers will not leave surveillance for a minute. According to him, today the possibility of equipping such a system primarily with the Circle and Sokolnicheskaya lines is being considered, but over time the video surveillance network will cover the entire subway. “Over the next year and a half, video surveillance systems will be installed in trains of all metro lines. Cameras will be installed in each carriage, which will allow monitoring the general state of affairs. This is one of the primary tasks of ensuring anti-terrorist security,” said Mr. Gaev. According to him, work will continue to install “panic buttons” at stations. So far, only the Sokolnicheskaya line is equipped with them, but soon red and blue steles with SOS buttons will appear at stations of seven more lines.
Despite the obvious complexity and considerable cost of the new security system, the question of its effectiveness remains open. This was partly acknowledged by the head of the metro himself, recalling that “unfortunately, there is no ready-made recipe for protection against terrorism.” As the London experience shows, the presence of a video surveillance system in itself is not capable of stopping a suicide bomber. At best, video recording helps subsequently identify the criminal. “However, we are working to create discomfort for carrying out terrorist acts,” said Mr. Gaev, assuring that, unlike terrorists, ordinary passengers will not feel the implementation of the new security system. Alexander GUDKOV |
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