Peter Katsambanis :: Public urged to comment on Closed Circuit TV strategy for WA

26 March 2015

Public urged to comment on Closed Circuit TV strategy for WA

Peter Katsambanis MLC, Member for North Metropolitan Region, has urged members of the public to provide feedback on the WA Government’s draft CCTV strategy that aims to create an integrated State CCTV network and fund additional cameras in crime hotspots.

“CCTV is already a powerful tool in fighting crime across our state." Mr Katsambanis said.

“The draft strategy will help to further harness the power of CCTV so our local communities can become even safer and more secure in the future.”

The draft strategy outlines how the State Government, local government and the private sector could join together to improve state-wide CCTV integration to achieve a safer Western Australia.

“CCTV makes a significant contribution in terms of both preventing and solving crime, but we need to make sure that we resolve issues of quality, formatting or accessibility so that WA Police can use both public and private CCTV effectively to keep our law abiding citizens safe.

“The strategy outlines the areas where we need to concentrate our efforts in the coming years, including redesigning the State CCTV Register, running a feasibility study, piloting the connected CCTV solution and establishing an infrastructure fund.

“Those people who have already installed or are considering installing CCTV in their homes or businesses will get a chance to have their say in how we can best utilise CCTV in the future,” Mr Katsambanis said.

The four elements of the strategy are:

refreshing the existing State CCTV Register (currently called Blue Iris) to provide better functionality and operability for those CCTV owners who want to voluntarily provide information about CCTV cameras facing public areas,

providing criteria and guidelines and improving information available for public and private owners of CCTV systems to ensure systems are fit-for-purpose,

providing direct connection between owners of CCTV cameras facing public spaces to enable WA Police to increase responsiveness to critical incidents, and

using mobile footage and testing a mobile phone video-sharing solution so that WA is not limited to traditional CCTV infrastructure as smart phones and tablets act as CCTV cameras.

“I encourage members of the public to view the draft strategy and to send their comments in to be considered.” Mr Katsambanis concluded.

The draft strategy is available on the WA Police website at www.police.wa.gov.au. Public comments are invited to be submitted via CCTV_feedback@police.wa.gov.au. The period for comments closes on Friday 26 June 2015.