Ayia Napa mulls CCTV system after murder

Ayia Napa municipality plans on installing security cameras in central parts of the town for the protection of the public, Mayor Yiannis Karousos said.

The move comes following calls of locals and tourists for more patrols in Ayia Napa and the installation of CCTV following the recent fatal knife attack against a British tourist, George Low.

Low, and his friend Ben Joseph Robert Barker were attacked by two men, armed with knives on August 14 while walking along Grigori Afxentiou Street in Ayia Napa early morning. The attack lead to the death of Low.

In June, the town made the headlines again following a gangland shooting which resulted in the death of businessman Phanos Kalopsidiotis, 51, a police officer and his wife, and one of the suspected shooters.

The CCTV cameras the municipality plans on installing will be connected to the police station so that it can monitor the area, Karousos said.

Similar systems exist in London and other European counties, he said, and Ayia Napa will follow their example following the recent criminal acts that “scarred the town”.

The aim is to eradicate crime and reinforce the public’s sense of security, he said.

He added that police will be in a position to investigate directly any complaints received as they will be in a position to find through the cameras’ footage car licence plates or suspects, and will not have to rely on privately installed CCTVs, which is time-consuming.

This way, he said, criminal acts will be averted.

If this idea is applied, Karousos said, Ayia Napa municipality will have taken a drastic step toward combatting crime and citizen protection.

 

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