New cameras helping keep city streets safe

Bryan McLean monitors the inner-city CCTV network from Whangarei police station. Photo / John Stone

The man behind Whangarei's unblinking eye in the sky says the city streets are essentially safe - with most misbehaviour the work of a few idiots.

The district council has spent $64,000 expanding and maintaining the city's closed circuit television (CCTV) network over the past year, taking the number of cameras to 25. It also added a camera at Laurie Hall Park under a separate War Memorial Budget after the district's cenotaph and war memorial were moved there this year.

Ross Wagner has headed Whangarei's Blue Club " the volunteer group that monitor the network " for more than 10 years.

He said three new cameras at Hatea Loop overlooked a relatively incident-free area, though more lighting would be beneficial.

In the city generally, incidents of unprovoked violence were extremely rare, Mr Wagner said.

Based on what he saw on the cameras, he felt safe walking the streets alone at night.

"It's just the classic case of a few idiots who ruin it for everyone else."

The 20 Blue Club members worked closely with police, alerting officers to incidents of concern including liquor ban breaches, drug use, vandalism and violence.

Whangarei District Council spokesman Owen Thomas said an upward trend in the number of liquor ban breaches could probably be put down to increased surveillance and reporting by volunteers.

The Blue Club was part of a "raft of people working to make Whangarei safer" including CitySafe officers, Maori Wardens and the volunteer Whangarei Community Patrol, he said.

"The CCTV cameras operate as a crime prevention tool first, and then support police with enforcement activities if required," he said.