The new reality of Moscow - the purchase of prisoner vans and increased surveillance

In addition to the purchase of one hundred new vehicles worth 491 million rubles, an application has appeared on the public procurement website for the purchase of 59 vehicles, which, in addition to fixing traffic rules, will look for violators of the quarantine regime.

Irina Mishina

Mobile complexes for photo and video recording will soon acquire new functions: they will start looking for violators of the quarantine regime, not only among car owners, but also among pedestrians. Novye Izvestia found on the website of state purchases information about the "performance of work on modernization" of these very mobile complexes. The information was posted by the Moscow Department of Competition Policy.

How exactly this will happen, the Traffic Organization Center did not specify. It is only known that the contractor has to modernize two types of mobile complexes: 34 cars based on minibuses produced by Sollers and 25 cars on the GAZelle Next chassis. Judging by the data on the website of the TsODD, all mobile complexes of video recording of this department will soon learn to catch violators of the quarantine regime.

The system called Quarantine appeared in May. With her help, traffic police officers caught violators of the self-isolation regime. The principle was as follows: the traffic inspector, through a special application on the tablet, had to connect to the data center camera, after which the application automatically compared the numbers of cars passing under the camera with a database into which information about digital passes issued to car owners was entered. The inspector had to stop the driver of the car who did not have a pass and issue a fine. At the same time, inspectors often complained that the system often fails and makes mistakes. The question of what exactly will change in the operation of this system now was also left unanswered in the data center.

To this day, the question of the legality of video surveillance remains controversial. Among the experts, opinions on the innovation were divided. “Formally, video cameras should be installed where accidents are often recorded. But in fact, mobile complexes are often installed not in areas with a high accident rate, but where minor or controversial violations are often allowed. As for video surveillance, no clear law has been adopted in this regard, so you can expect anything from the new complexes. Prior to that, the mobile data center complexes recorded up to 20 types of traffic violations. After their "improvement", they will begin to record more than 50 offenses, including driving without compulsory motor third party liability insurance", - said to Novye Izvestia automotive expert, radio Avtodor radio host Igor Morzharetto.

The rules for installing video recorders on the road are based on the Code of Administrative Offenses: in article 2.6.1. The Code of Administrative Offenses states that the recording of offenses can be carried out by technical means, and not only. However, today there is no uniform GOST on the means of photo and video recording. So we can say that this measure is half-hearted from the point of view of the law.

“The legal basis for this innovation is an agreement between the Moscow government and the traffic police. Subsequently, the Department of Transport delegated the powers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the traffic police. This is what will allow the new complexes to monitor quarantine violators”, - Igor Morzharetto explained.

It seems that this function was incorporated into the mobile complexes not by chance right now, after the decision was made to use a face recognition system in restaurants, non-food stores and beauty salons. As you know, this has already been announced by the head of the Moscow Department of Trade and Services Aleksey Nemeryuk. The official made a reservation that this will happen if the system proves its effectiveness in nightclubs and bars. There is no doubt that this system will be introduced. All this coincided with the statement of the mayor of Moscow that "the measures already taken by the authorities will be strictly and systematically controlled. "This is "remote" for 30% of the employees, and observance of the mask regime in transport, and a recommendation for people over 65 to stay at home. This is "a new reality that will have to live until the end of the pandemic", - Sobyanin said.

Apparently, mobile complexes of photo and video recording, that is, in other words, surveillance, should also become an integral part of this “new reality”. Now, instead of patrolling the streets with police and Rosgvardia squads, who did not always convincingly explain what is good and what is bad in quarantine, the mobile complex will simply record violators of the mayor's orders, automatically entering them into the database. The fine will be sent by mail. And as far as it is legitimate - it seems that the recipient will have to prove in court at his own expense.

Other experts believe that the emergence of new video complexes is absolutely normal.

“When a person violates traffic rules, video recording is necessary, this is an accompanying norm. Given that the traffic police are constantly shrinking, replacing people with technology is not an abnormal norm. Now, for example, only 4 crews work from Khimki to Klin. People are forced to wait several hours for the arrival of the traffic police. As for the fines for violating quarantine, this has been in effect since spring. Video recorders even then began to register drivers whose car numbers are entered in the database of those who must self-isolate due to a confirmed coronavirus, contact with such a patient, or for any other reason. If the mayor's decree is signed on this score and there is an agreement with the city Directorate of Internal Affairs (GUVD), there are no questions. Now many are asking the question: is 98 million rubles for the creation of such video recording complexes a lot or a little? Considering that one car with a mobile complex can cost up to 5 million rubles, this is not so much money", - Police Lieutenant General Alexander Mikhailov told Novye Izvestia.

Indeed, 98 million is not so much in comparison with another state procurement in Moscow, the amount of which is much more impressive: 491 million rubles is going to be spent by the mayor's office of the capital for the purchase of one hundred new transport vehicles. It is interesting that their customer is the same Traffic Management Center (TMC). As follows from the tender documentation, it is planned to buy 35 vehicles designed for 20 detainees, the same amount - for 15 detainees and another 30 vehicles for six detainees. At the same time, seven policemen should also fit in a car for 20 people; in a paddy wagon for 15 and six places - 12 and seven employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, respectively. So it is premature, to put it mildly, to speak about layoffs in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, at least based on this information. One more detail is interesting: all transport vehicles must have video recorders and cameras inside. According to the official version - "for monitoring police officers and detainees".

If the purpose of spending on cars with video recorders is to catch persistent traffic offenders and quarantine, then what have the police wagons to do with it?

“This is just a planned renewal of the vehicle fleet, the old vehicles are worn out”, our source in the Ministry of Internal Affairs explained. However, such a massive renewal of the car fleet of the repressive apparatus and equipping it with video recording devices provokes natural questions. Is it not the Moscow authorities who are going to fight so massively with the quarantine violators, with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs? One way or another, the auction for the purchase of autoworks is scheduled for October 22, its winner must provide all cars by the end of 2020. This means that the paddy wagons are ready and the information about the auction is just a formality.

Another thing is strange. In the context of a surge in the incidence of coronavirus, the majority of cases of which and the highest mortality rate today are recorded in Moscow, the city authorities are spending almost 600 million on paddy wagons and mobile video recording systems, and not on ambulances, which are clearly in short supply. It would also not be superfluous to spend these funds on the purchase of ventilators or on a real, effective free vaccine or something else useful. But the Moscow authorities seem to have different priorities.