Ten CCTV cameras have been installed in Queenstown and will be switched on before the start of the Winter Festival today.
Senior Constable Sean Drader said he hoped those in the resort would "feel a degree safer".
Research had shown cameras reduced crime such as theft, he said.
In the 1990s, analogue cameras were installed in central areas but Mr Drader said costly maintenance meant they fell into disrepair.
"The cameras, one by one, stopped working. It's been a lot of work to get them going again."
