Glen Innes Severn Council is to discuss making it easier for the police to get access to footage captured by closed-circuit TV cameras on local streets and inside public buildings.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At the moment, police officers have to go through a formal process which can take a day before they are allowed to review what a camera has shot. Under the proposal, a simple request to the council would allow them to look at the footage within minutes.
Council General Manager, Hein Basson, said this would greatly assist the police, enabling them to react quickly to trouble rather than having to wait for a bureaucratic process to take its course.
The council has also installed CCTV cameras inside and outside the library after staff were abused by visitors. There are seven cameras outside and eight inside the building. Mr Basson said it was to provde a “safer environment” and deter vandals.
In the past, campaigners have argued that CCTV cameras are an intrusion, offering the authorities too close a view of what ordinary people are doing through the day. Others argue that they prevent crime, particularly street assaults and vandalism.
The council is to review the matter later this week but the recommendation is that the changes be approved. The report to the council says: “The CCTV Program has been operating well and has resulted in a significant decrease in antisocial behaviour in the CBD. It has also assisted the Police in obtaining a number of convictions regarding incidents that have been captured on the CCTV.”
