TAIPEI: Taipei will invest NT$1.6 billion ($47 million) to install 13,000 new security cameras in a bid to make Taipei "a safe city", mayor Hau Lung-bin said yesterday.

The city will replace 12,000 existing security cameras with newer models, equipped with search and alert functions, according to Hau.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) technology is so far advanced nowadays that it's possible to search for certain actions in recorded video. For example, when investigating an ATM crime, police can set a search condition for "a person staying near a machine for longer than 10 minutes" and the system will find all video meeting the criterion.

It's also possible to have the system to alert police automatically when a car matching a previously entered description appears in the camera lens, helping to solve car thefts more quickly.

Of the 13,000 cameras, 1,500 will be high-resolution one-mega-pixel models, the mayor added.

Taiwan's "Ministry of the Interior" earmarked a NT$1 billion budget earlier this year to beef up public surveillance island-wide. It's estimated that security cameras are installed at only one quarter of residential areas in Taiwan and some 40 percent of those need to be repaired.

The plan has raised the ire of civil liberties groups, who argue that extensive surveillance by authorities violates individual privacy rights.

Citing UK statistics, the anti-surveillance groups say there's scant evidence that cameras set to spy on the public are an effective deterrent to crime.

The UK is believed to be the most heavily monitored country in the world, with one camera for every 14 people. A 2008 report by UK Police Chiefs showed only 3 percent of crimes were solved through CCTV.

Hau stressed that the Taipei surveillance system would not invade privacy because cameras will point toward public areas, not at people's homes.

There also are rules about official reviews of CCTV footage. "Without a good reason or the proper procedures, nobody can review the video, including the mayor, the legislators or the borough chiefs," he said.

As for the concern that motorists will face increased prosecution for traffic violations because of increased monitoring, Hau responded that CCTV is intended primarily for crime fighting and disaster prevention.

Taipei City Councilwoman Lin Yi-hua observed that traffic police exceeded their fines quota last year. "So the police should use the new surveillance system to prevent crimes, instead of issuing more traffic tickets."