Cameras watch over Geneva’s Pâquis district

In Geneva’s Pâquis district – one of the liveliest and most cosmopolitan parts of the city – numerous surveillance cameras were recently introduced to fight crime (SRF/swissinfo.ch)

On October 15, 2014, the Geneva authorities announced that 23 CCTV cameras were in operation in part of the Pâquis district.

Located between the lake and Cornavin train station, the district in the city centre is best known for its colourful blend of cultures, restaurants and shops, five-star hotels, relatively cheap accommodation and for being Geneva’s unofficial red-light district. It is also known for attracting petty criminals and drug dealers.

The 23 surveillance cameras cover a dozen different streets and are connected to a police monitoring station. Eight police officers work round the clock every day to monitor the images and remotely operate the cameras.

The authorities maintain that only the public streets and the ground floors of buildings are visible; the rest is automatically masked by the system. If not relevant to an investigation, the images are stored for seven days on secure servers before being deleted.

The pilot project is due to run for two years with an independent evaluation planned and the first results expected after one year.