NT Police have confirmed Katherine’s CCTV cameras are monitored 24 hours per day.
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Following a 167 per cent rise in shop break-ins there has been speculation as to how often the cameras were watched in real time, if at all.
According to a NT Police spokeswoman there are 14 police cameras set up in town to crack down on crime and anti-social behavior.
Most of the cameras are situated along Katherine Terrace and First Street.
But in July of last year the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics funded the roll out of cameras covering the School Bus Interchange on Chambers Drive, Victoria Highway/Railway Terrace area and the Bicentennial Road/Stuart Highway area.
At a Chamber of Commerce meeting on Friday, February 1, Police Commander Michael Hebb and Katherine’s new Superintendent Daniel Shean addressed concerns about CCTV cameras.
How long have [CCTV] cameras been in the street? and has crime gone up or down?
- Phillip Jazyschyn, from Katherine Diagnostic Imaging
Commander Hebb did confirm “a staff member is allocated to Katherine cameras”, after a member of the audience said he regularly sees “kids congregating around CCTV cameras on my drives at night.”
“When [staff allocated to monitor Katherine’s cameras] see suspicious behavior we do get tasked,” Commander Hebb said at the meeting.
Phillip Jazyschyn, from Katherine Diagnostic Imaging, questioned the worth of cameras with crime rates still on the rise.
Off the back of his business being broken into more than once he called on police to increase their patrols.
“I think cameras are nice but what we really need is police to walk the beat, we need proper community patrols.
“How long have [CCTV] cameras been in the street? and has crime gone up or down?
“How often is a call put through to police saying that there is suspicious activity?
“Do we want to prevent crime or do we just want to catch them and prosecute them?
“I want more than just cameras – they are not the answer.”
Mr Jazyschyn said while the CCTV cameras can play a role in preventing crime or catching a criminal, as a scare factor, they are not a major deterrent.
“It is up to the parents, if it is them who have to pay for the window that has been smashed, we might see a decline,” he said.
Last year, in a bid to fight the rising crime rates across the NT, the Government committed $1.3 million to buy 10 extra mobile CCTV units.
In November of 2018, two of the units were installed in Katherine, with the rest situated in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and the greater Darwin area.
According to Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Nicole Manison, “mobile CCTV cameras allow police to rapidly deploy an overt surveillance capability that can be monitored live to assist in detecting incidents and identifying and prosecuting offenders.”
According to police, there were 275 commercial break-ins in the past year (to the end of November 2018) – which is about six per week.
Businesses in Katherine have been dealing with relentless break-ins and vandalism, resorting to unwelcoming grilles to protect their shop fronts.
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