Silence of the Safe City in the Alleys of Crime: An Investigative Analysis

The implementation of the e-challan system in Karachi has undeniably marked a new chapter in the city’s traffic management infrastructure. The advanced cameras installed at various locations have issued traffic violation tickets to hundreds of thousands of citizens an indication that the system is functioning with full technical precision. Yet there is another side to this picture, one that is not only alarming but raises serious questions about the overall efficacy of the entire project: street criminals, target killers, and even gangs involved in stealing manhole covers seem to remain invisible to these sophisticated surveillance eyes. It is as though the best available technology has conceded defeat before these offenders.

The Safe City project is, in principle, a fully integrated surveillance and command-and-control system, with Facial Recognition and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technologies as its core components. The cameras installed across the city are meant not only to monitor traffic violations but also to maintain constant vigilance over criminal activity. For traffic monitoring, the process is straightforward: whenever a vehicle violates the law, cameras capture images or video evidence, and the automated system retrieves the vehicle owner’s data to generate an e-challan. The procedure is transparent, and citizens are provided with photographic or video proof to eliminate ambiguity.

However, when it comes to apprehending criminals, the same technology fades into the background. Facial Recognition cameras are fundamentally designed to identify wanted and absconding suspects and immediately trigger alerts yet the statistics reveal that street crime in Karachi remains rampant. Nearly 59,000 incidents of street crime were reported this year alone, and these represent only the recorded cases; the actual situation is likely far more disturbing. More than 15,000 mobile phones were snatched, over 6,000 vehicles and motorcycles were taken at gunpoint, and nearly 37,000 more were stolen with no trace to this day. These numbers highlight not only the operational strength of criminal networks but also their awareness of surveillance blind spots, enabling them to evade detection with disturbing ease.

The most troubling aspect is that while the system possesses the extraordinary capacity to issue thousands of traffic tickets daily, the same city witnesses an average of more than 46 mobile snatchings per day, over 5 four-wheelers stolen or hijacked daily, and 123 motorcycles disappearing into the hands of criminals each day yet the role of surveillance technology in resolving or preventing such crimes remains negligible. The question is not whether the technology is flawed, but rather why its operational focus has been restricted almost exclusively to traffic regulation.

Equally astonishing is that even individuals involved in heinous crimes such as targeted killings seem to slip through the system unnoticed. Although there have been isolated instances such as when South Zone Police apprehended a suspect using Facial Recognition technology these rare successes only prove that the system can work, but is not being applied consistently or comprehensively. If such tools are limited to select locations or specific categories, criminals will always find pathways to evade detection.

The situation becomes even more dire when one considers crimes that directly threaten human life. The theft of manhole covers, for instance, is not merely a financial loss but a deadly hazard. Several children and adults have fallen victim to open drains, yet no substantial evidence exists showing that Safe City cameras have assisted in identifying perpetrators involved in these thefts. On one hand, the technology performs with formidable efficiency in generating traffic fines; on the other, it maintains a troubling silence when it comes to crimes that claim precious lives.

What deepens the concern is the conspicuous silence from the authorities. Attempts to obtain comprehensive e-challan statistics from DSP Traffic Karachi, Kashif Nadeem, proved unsuccessful. A request for the Safe City surveillance performance report from DG Safe City, Asif Ijaz Sheikh, also received no response. This silence raises critical questions. If the system is effectively deterring or solving crimes, why then is the data not being shared publicly?

This stark contrast between traffic enforcement and criminal surveillance leads Karachi’s citizens to a pressing question: Is the Safe City system genuinely functioning as a tool of public safety, or has its practical utility been reduced to traffic fine collection? Mistaking revenue generation for technological success is a dangerous illusion. If properly integrated into a coordinated crime-prevention strategy, this system has the potential to significantly reduce street crime and targeted killings in Karachi.

It is imperative that the Safe City project not remain confined to traffic management. Its cameras and technologies must be deployed with full force for the identification, tracking, and apprehension of criminal elements. Unless the system is operationalized in service of the people’s safety and protection, the impressive speed of e-challan generation will remain a quiet contradiction when weighed against the city’s persistent and devastating crime wave.