More and more local councils are using closed-circuit TV cameras for security, but most of the cameras are not monitored, a new survey has revealed.
About 220 Australian councils, including Melton, took part in the survey by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), which found that 57 per cent of them operated at least one CCTV camera last year.
Another 12 per cent said they had plans to install a CCTV system, while 30 per cent had no plans. In 2005, only nine per cent of councils operated CCTV.
Melton council leisure and facilities manager Adrian Burns said there were about 90 CCTV cameras in the municipality, with the potential to install more.
“Cameras are located around a number of council buildings and are used to monitor areas where council may expect facility damage or where there’s a security risk,” Mr Burns said.
“We will install cameras when new facilities are being built as required.”
Mr Burns said while the effectiveness of CCTV cameras was inconclusive, “evidence suggests CCTV can be beneficial in preventing some premeditated crimes”.
He said the security footage was not monitored live; cameras recorded to local hard drives and were reviewed if and when necessary.
The survey found an overwhelming majority of systems (61 per cent) weren’t monitored; 15 per cent were occasionally monitored in business hours and only 10 per cent were actively monitored, either during business hours or 24 hours a day.
The percentage of CCTV systems actively monitored last year was down from 25 per cent in 2005, while cameras not monitored virtually doubled, from 31 to 61 per cent.
“This finding is not particularly surprising given the resources required to monitor CCTV and the focus of major grant programs on covering installations and infrastructure costs,” the AIC report states.
“A number of councils expressed concern at the cost of monitoring CCTV and the need for additional funding to cover costs associated with … systems.”
While Moorabool council did not take part in the survey, chief executive Rob Croxford said it operated CCTV cameras at several locations.
“As a council we have not formed a policy on this issue as we have no great use or high need of security cameras,” he said.
