Surveillance cameras will be installed in between 2,500 and 3,000 Shenzhen buses starting Thursday to maintain passenger safety, local police said Friday.

By the end of next year, 12,000 surveillance cameras will be placed in Shenzhen buses, a record for Chinese cities.

The monitoring system is expected to help Shenzhen police function more effectively and make passengers feel safer, said Liu Yi, chief of the public transportation branch bureau under the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Around 4.3 million local residents take buses daily, making robbery and theft on buses a big issue in Shenzhen.

The police is now inviting public tenders for the cameras over the Internet. The surveillance systems will be put in use after six months' trial.

Each bus will be equipped with three surveillance cameras, one in front, one in the rear, and another one opposite the bus door. The cameras will record every passenger taking the bus, Liu said.

Each bus will also have two buttons for alerting the police. Once a button is pressed, pictures and videos taken by surveillance cameras will be transmitted immediately to the police headquarters.

The public transportation branch bureau has cracked nearly 1,000 cases of theft and robbery occurring on public transportation this year, and caught more than 2,000 suspects.

A two-month campaign against bus crimes has been launched by the public transportation branch bureau. During the period, 10 teams of 30 volunteers each will be organized to work together with patrolmen to catch thieves and robbers on buses.

(Shenzhen Daily December 26, 2006)