Brisbane City Council expands CitySafe security camera network
There will be 35 more eyes to watch you 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the next 12 months, as Brisbane City Council expands its CitySafe camera network in the CBD and Fortitude Valley.
The expansion did not come cheap, with a price tag of $2.8 million, but Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said it was worth every cent.
“Last year, there were 5000 incidents that were identified as part of the CCTV 24-hour, seven day a week coverage,” he said.
“In the Valley, it was around 3800 and one of the great benefits is the amplification that goes with CCTV coverage, so a number of times we’ve been able to intercede in incidents with immediate voiceovers, indicating to people that they’re being watched and that police are on their way.”
Nine of the 35 new cameras would be installed in the Valley, with the rest in the CBD.
The expansion would result in a total of 34 cameras in the Valley and 92 in the city.
Police Superintendent Brian Connors said the Queensland Police Service had worked with the council to decide where to place the new cameras.
“(The locations) have been chosen because there hasn’t been a lot of coverage there in the past,” he said.
“They have been potentially blind spots, or black spots, within the existing network.
“What we’ve done is actually expanded the footprint to be able to take in some of those corridors we think are potentially future areas of higher foot traffic, areas where people move from one area to another and pass through them.”
Despite the expansion, Superintendent Connors conceded there were still some black spots in CitySafe’s coverage of the inner city.
“Obviously, you could never cover a city the size of Brisbane exclusively with a CCTV network, so there will no doubt be certain sections that aren’t under full-time coverage,” Superintendent Connors said.
“But remember, this is a balance between electronic monitoring and good old-fashioned eyeballs of police who are walking around the city, as well as the network of people that live and work in the city and pass information on to the various stakeholder groups.”
Superintendent Connors said it was “quite a good safeguard” to have the program operated by the council rather than the QPS.
“We don’t want to be the ones actually recording people, recording the footage and keeping the footage of the community going about its business,” he said.
“It’s excellent in regard to the fact that we can reach out to our partners and essentially request that footage should we require it.”
Cr Quirk said CitySafe ran on an annual budget of $1.1 million.
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