LAW ENFORCEMENT : ‘Big Brother’ Helps Chile Fight Crime

Muggers, thieves, pickpockets and purse snatchers once infested this city’s downtown district, which had also been plagued by illegal sidewalk vendors, vandals and drunks.

Then came “video patrol.”

Now, highly developed electronic technology is helping this capital solve the kinds of problems that trouble many big cities in developing countries where police forces are understaffed.

Since the installation of 22 closed-circuit security cameras at strategic street locations in December, 1993, downtown crime and disorder have dropped off dramatically, officials report.

The video patrol cameras have been so successful that authorities are preparing to install similar systems in two other commercial districts of metropolitan Santiago.

The concept is not new. In George Orwell’s futuristic novel “1984”--published in 1949--ubiquitous cameras control the population. “Big Brother Is Watching You,” the novel’s people are warned.

But only recently have developing countries begun applying the kind of technology, such as high-definition television and fiber-optics, needed for an effective video-patrol system.

When Santiago announced plans to use video patrol, some politicians and commentators objected that it was a step toward an Orwellian state. “But these complaints have not been repeated,” said Wladimir Aguilera, director of press and communications for the municipality of Santiago.

Raul Ulloa, the municipal administrative director, said the video system resulted in more than 1,800 police actions, including hundreds of detentions, in its first year of operation. “In the center of Santiago, the incidence of robberies has dropped tremendously,” Ulloa said.

He said occupation rates are rising in hotels that previously were going broke because tourists were afraid to stay downtown. “There is a feeling of security,” he said. “People who walk down Ahumada and Huerfanos streets feel protected.”

Santiago bought its high-definition video cameras from Ikegani, a Japanese manufacturer. The shock-proof housings and control mechanisms came from Pelco in Clovis, Calif. The cameras are linked by fiber-optics to a control center.

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Automatic mechanisms keep the zoom lenses moving in random patterns, but officers who watch monitors can operate the cameras manually by remote control. When they see suspicious activity, they call the nearest patrol officers to the scene.

The municipalities of Providencia and Las Condes are preparing to advertise for international bids from suppliers of closed-circuit television equipment.

Providencia and Las Condes will seek contributions from merchants to help finance their systems, as Santiago did, then turn the operations over to the national police force.

Santiago’s daily El Mercurio said in a recent editorial that video patrol is a “practical and comparatively less costly” response to increasing urban crime. “It seeks to multiply police capacity for action without increasing their numbers,” the newspaper said.