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Our View: Firing shots at traffic camera staff must be treated with utmost seriousness by police

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(Photo: Christos Theodorides)

It’s almost surreal to read about the serious attacks on employees of the company operating the new system of traffic cameras.

Cyprus has waited decades for a system to be installed to try and cut down on traffic accidents and now that it’s properly underway, it seems that trying to solve one problem has led to another. 

There have been two gun attacks on employees of the operator this month, in addition to the vandalising of a camera with spray paint. Also, there are reports of some motorists becoming aggressive with employees of the company. 

But these two incidents are more than just road rage. They were not warning shots fired in the air. Clearly the perpetrators meant to injure or kill. 

The first shooting incident happened around two weeks ago when two workers were parked on a section of the Kokkinotrimithia-Nicosia highway. Both men sustained injuries after being shot at with a hunting gun from a nearby road. 

The second happened on Monday night when another employee parked on the Larnaca-Ayia Napa highway near the Rizoelia roundabout saw a dark-coloured motorcycle with two riders approaching. Two shots were fired at the rear of his vehicle but fortunately he was not injured. 

It seems almost unbelievable that anyone would seriously try to kill people over the installation of traffic cameras. 

Given the impunity motorists in Cyprus have enjoyed for many decades it was probably to be expected that there would be vandalism and arguments even though during one of the many delays in the installation of the system, one excuse given was that it would give people more time to adjust to the idea. It seems that was a misplaced theory. 

Police have not said whether they believe the two shooting incidents involved the same suspects. It is highly unlikely they were ordinary motorists but were probably career criminals who do not want their movements along the road network being tracked or having their vehicle placed in the vicinity of the scene of a crime. 

The idea would seem to be an attempt to scare off the private company operating the system or impact their staffing because who wants to go to work and risk getting shot at? Obviously, these criminals see the cameras as a real threat, and it’s not the threat of being fined for a traffic offence. Otherwise they would not go to such great lengths and risk arrest for attempted murder. 

Police need to pull out all the stops in tracking down the shooters and throw the book at them, including charges of terrorism. It might also help to speed up the installation of the remainder of the cameras so that the risk of criminals getting caught will increase.

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