CCTV cameras could be installed in high crime areas across Whittlesea after councillors backed a proposal to develop a CCTV policy.
Cr Ricky Kirkham raised a notice of motion at the council’s June 28 meeting, asking for a CCTV policy to improve community safety.
He said there are growing concerns about safety, with overall crime up 8.7 per cent in Whittlesea in the 12 months to March.
Cr Kirkham said closed-circuit cameras should be installed in public places where there is a potential risk to people’s personal safety.
“We should develop a policy where we can start to protect the community more broadly,” he said.
“If you drive through most of the areas in Mernda and Doreen, as well as parts in the southern area of the municipality, you can see that graffiti is on the rise.
“We need to deter offenders and make people feel safe. I would like to see the council on the front foot and be real leaders in the field.”
Mayor Stevan Kozmevski said while he supported the CCTV policy proposal, he believed that installing cameras was not the best way to make people feel safe.
“More police is what we really need to make the community feel safe,” he said.
Cr Kozmevski said he wanted to ensure that the community had a say in the policy and that their privacy wasn’t overlooked.
The council will consult with police and the community over coming months to determine whether cameras should be installed.
Earlier this year, a Burnet Institute report found that the installation of CCTV cameras in Footscray in 2011 had failed to reduce the sale or use of injecting drugs on the streets.
Based on a study of more than 680 injecting drug users, the report found the main effect of the cameras was to shift injecting heroin and “ice” users from public toilets on to streets farther from the cameras.
But Victoria Police and Maribyrnong council say the cameras have boosted the “perception” of public safety.
