More loudspeakers are being installed throughout Katherine's CBD today.
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The town is being increasingly wired for sound as police controversially installed the first CBD loudspeakers last August as part of a strategy to crack down on youth crime.
The loudspeakers are coupled with new CCTV cameras which are monitored remotely from police headquarters in Darwin but there is no information they have ever been used.
At least two speakers have been bolted high on a pole in front of the Government Centre in First Street along with more CCTV cameras.
Loudspeakers have also been attached to poles on Katherine Terrace.
The additions bring the CBD's loudspeakers to 18, and according to today's advice from NT Police there could be six more to come.
There are also at least two speakers on Railway Terrace.
Crews could also be seen installing other security measures earlier this morning, with work also happening at the Lindsay Street Complex and on the main street.
Much to the dismay of many people in the town, police said they would play pre-recorded messages through the loudspeakers as a tactic to scare Katherine's mischief makers up to no good.
"Stop, you are now under surveillance. Proceeding further will activate other systems and the police will be called," is the first message.
"Warning, security systems activated. You are now under surveillance and the police authorities have been notified," is the second.
At the time, police said CCTV operators at the Peter McAulay Centre in Berrimah would send one of the pre-recorded messages or speak live if they saw people doing the wrong thing.
But it wasn't long after the security measures were installed it was revealed Katherine's 42 police CCTV cameras were not being watched 24/7, despite numerous assurances they were.
It was revealed the small cohort of CCTV operators have a mammoth job of monitoring 587 security cameras across the Northern Territory.
And they can't keep up.
The revelation came after a 19-year-old allegedly smashed a series of shop windows and car windows on Katherine's main street at the beginning of November 2019.
Residents questioned the effectiveness of the security cameras and loudspeakers when it appeared the vandalism spree had gone unseen and CCTV operators failed to action a scare-tactic message.
In response to inquiries from the Katherine Times as to whether or not the vandal involved in the crime spree was seen in real time, or whether the loudspeakers were used as they were intended to, a NT Police spokeswoman said: "we do not keep records of loud speaker activations so we are unable to answer whether or not they were used."
"Police have access to 587 cameras which are recording 24/7," the spokeswoman said at the time.
"CCTV operators are able to review recordings to assist in crime reduction and prevention and keeping the community safe."
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