Saudi Arabia: 1,300 security cameras to monitor Prophet's Mosque

The Saudia Arabian Ministry of Interior's Prophet's Mosque Force is working on installing a new surveillance system consisting of 1,300 sophisticated security cameras to monitor worshippers entering the mosque at its 86 gates, reported Al-Watan newspaper last Saturday. The camera project will be completed this year. About 2,500 security officers are on duty during Ramadan.

Brigadier Hamed Bin Ahmad Al-Ruhaili, Commander of the Prophet's Mosque Force, said the security officers are now carrying out the security plan for Ramadan this year, which includes introducing the best services to worshippers, enabling them to carry out their rituals with ease.
The force is backed-up by members from Madina Police Training City, Special Emergency Forces, and the Task Forces.
Al-Ruhaili said the plan is focused on security inside the mosque and in the courtyards, and to manage crowds of people who want to enter the Rawdha and visit the Prophet's grave. The plan is based on field studies and analyses of previous years. It includes dealing with those lost in the mosque, and security inside the women's section.

For this section, there has been direct coordination with the Prophet's Mosque Affairs to hire additional, temporary women employees to help the permanent women staff with security and safety, including preventing jostling and curbing pick-pocketing, Al-Ruhaili said. He said officers and privates trained to deal with pick-pockets are members of a task force formed for this purpose. The force has caught several suspects red handed.