Lens on beauty, public duty
Lens on beauty, public duty
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  They are trained to focus their lens on beautiful subjects. But, despite being surrounded by beautiful p..

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  They are trained to focus their lens on beautiful subjects. But, despite being surrounded by beautiful people, they have been engaged to use their talent for a more responsible job - to ensure the safety of the public. They are the band of professional cameramen hired by the City Police as part of reinforcing the security measures at various festival centres in the city during the Onam Week celebrations.  As many as 60 cameramen, who normally cover marriage ceremonies and cultural programmes, have been engaged to monitor the revelry at different festival venues, including Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, Museum, Kanakakkunnu Palace and Poojappura ground. ‘’The festival began on Thursday and since then, the facility has enabled us to spot around 15 children who were separated from their parents amid the celebrations,’’ said City Police Control Room CI Ashokan. The cameramen also helped net close to 30 eve-teasers! Their association with the City Police has proved a double bonanza for the cameramen, whose hands are already full with numerous assignments for covering marriages during the auspicious month of ‘Chingam’. ‘’Our duty begins in the evening when the cultural programmes begin. So, we are free to attend to the assignments that we had committed earlier during the daytime,’’ says Robson, one of the cameramen deployed on the Kanakakkunnu Palace premises.  The visuals they lap up are transmitted live to television monitors in the special control rooms set up at the respective venues. The men can be easily spotted at the festival venues with their camera and tripod, escorted by a police officer, thoroughly scanning the surroundings for any untoward incidents. Each of them is accompanied by a police officer so that supervising officers at the control room can give out directions through walkie-talkies.   ‘’The system of hiring private cameramen has been in practice for the past few years as it is not feasible for the authorities to install high-end surveillance cameras just for a few days,’’ said City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham. Even though their activities are supervised and guided by the City Police, it is the Department of Tourism, which is hosting the celebrations, that pays them for their services.

What's your reaction?

Comments

https://chuka-chuka.com/assets/images/user-avatar-s.jpg

0 comment

Write the first comment for this!