Blind Eye In The Sky

Government’s three Eye In The Sky watch towers are camera-less and without state-of-the-art surveillance equipment. The three skywatch units, purchased at a cost of $1 million each, were never outfitted with surveillance cameras. The first tower set up at the Brian Lara Promenade on December 1, 2004, was described as one of the new units purchased by Government in the fight against crime, but for unexplained reasons, no cameras or surveillance equipment were outfitted in the towers. One of the towers is located at Busy Corner, Chaguanas, another at the Brian Lara Promenade, and the third is collecting dust behind West Mall. The units were supposed to be outfitted with cameras, but this has yet to be done.

Newsday learnt that the unit in Chaguanas was only recently outfitted with a microphone. There was only a chair on it when it was handed over to the Central Division earlier this year. Police officers described the three units as the biggest fraud ever imposed on the citizens of this country. They added that having them perform duties on the unit caused a depletion of manpower which could have been channelled elsewhere. On April 21, Oba Jones, 19, of Laventille was shot dead in broad daylight on the Brian Lara Promenade near the Sky Watch Tower. However, officers at the Sky Watch Unit were unable to provide investigators with any assistance because they did not see the shooting, and the unit had no camera. Again, during the bomb blast at the dumpster behind the KFC outlet on September 10 in Port-of-Spain, the Eye In The Sky was unable to record anything because there was nothing in it except a microphone and a chair.

Senior police officers remained mum on the Sky Watch towers, however, refusing to say anything about the units. At a press briefing after the blast at the dumpster on September 10, even Police Commissioner Trevor Paul  said he did not wish to divulge information on the Sky Watch tower’s failure to record activities relating to the blast. He never disclosed that the Skywatch was not equipped with cameras. Police sources revealed they were given firm instructions to send up the hydraulic lift on the towers each day to create an impression that members of the public were being closely monitored by police officers inside the unit. Since July of this year, the unit on the Brian Lara Promenade has not been manned because officers complained that working at the tower was a waste of time. They added that the only thing working in the tower is the microphone to order people to move away from areas near the unit.

When the unit was first introduced on December 1, 2004, it was described as the latest in anti-crime equipment, and one of the world’s most advanced security systems. The man contracted by Government to purchase the units, David Smith, had revealed on December 1, 2004, that the unit can accommodate two police officers and has the ability to monitor activities in all directions. He boasted then that the unit has night vision and video recording capabilities.

Smith also revealed that officers in the Sky Watch would be able to provide their superiors with videotapes of criminal activities within a 24-hour period. Sky Watch is manufactured by American firm New Heights Manufacturing Incorporated, and is available in Classic, Eagle, Sentinel and Frontier models. National Security Minister Martin Joseph yesterday said that questions about the Sky Watch units should be forwarded to Police Commissioner Trevor Paul. He also said he was in a meeting and ended the conversation abruptly. When contacted, Paul said he was also in a meeting, and asked Newsday to call back.