Downtown Reykjavík To Increase And Update Security Cameras

Reykjavík City Council voted in favour of putting 4 million ISK towards buying new security cameras for downtown Reykjavík and other areas.

Vísir reports that the measure passed last Thursday and would, if implemented, put some 30 security cameras all around downtown Reykjavík. These cameras would be capable of being precise enough to be able to read license plate numbers.

In addition to being able to read license plate numbers, these cameras will also be able to cross-reference plate numbers with police records in a very short amount of time.

The project is actually a long time in the making. As Mayor Dagur B. Eggertsson pointed out in his notes on the proposal, the city bought 12 security cameras in 2012, and four of them are now broken. An additional 18 security cameras were bought two years later. Eleven of these cameras from 2014 will be swapped out, and four of the new ones will be of the plate-reading variety.

Should all go according to plan, these cameras should be in operation by early May.