Residents in one Diggers Rest street will soon start “electronic” patrols as part of a community CCTV link-up.
Not-for-profit group Community Against Crime (CAC) will co-ordinate the trial community safety cam program, which involves installing CCTV cameras at all 21 homes along Teatree Street.
The idea is to get everyone in the neighbourhood involved, and to give residents access to each other’s CCTV footage.
CAC director Tim Payne said the program could help residents feel safer knowing that their neighbourhoods were being monitored round the clock.
“This allows the community to have more input without the need to patrol the streets,” Mr Payne said. “At the moment, you’ve got people patrolling the streets, and that’s quite dangerous … now you can electronically patrol the streets.”
Mr Payne says CAC is relying on donations to get homes equipped with CCTV cameras, but he hopes local businesses and councils will soon get involved.
Teatree Street resident Thomas Creek said the idea for the program was discussed after a community safety forum at Diggers Rest last September.
He said while there hadn’t been any break-ins on the street, residents are still worried as nearby streets have been targeted.
“With any incident that usually happens, the police are always asking for CCTV footage,” Mr Creek said. “I understand some people might not like the idea of our program for privacy reasons, but there’s a group of us who do … and, hopefully, this idea can take off.”
Sergeant Rob Henley, of the Melton Crime Investigation Unit, said while he couldn’t comment on the safety program, CCTV footage was a vital part of any police investigation.
“We’ve been blessed with some of the footage we’ve been able to get from residents – it really is a powerful tool for us investigators,” Sergeant Henley said.
“If residents want local councils and police to get involved, a memorandum of understanding would need to be drafted and signed, so everyone knows what’s going on.”
Details: communityagainstcrime.org.
