Eye on the streets reducing crime

KEEPING WATCH: Monitor Ian Brighty, left, Newmarket Business Association general manager Cameron Brewer, and senior sergeant Wendy Spiller check out images from the CCTV camera network.

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Newmarket’s CCTV network has been operating for less than a month and already is helping to catch criminals and deter crooks.

Fourteen digital cameras that can pan, tilt and zoom are mounted on buildings in the retail hub.

The Newmarket Business Association is funding the project which unites the police, camera system owner Advanced Security, and Newmarket Security, who provides a street patrol service.

Newmarket senior sergeant Wendy Spiller says the system has already helped to solve an aggravated robbery of the suburb’s iconic food caravan the White Lady.

"By going through back footage we were able to get the offenders coming and going and they’ve subsequently been arrested."

Two "dodgy-looking" men had also been spotted staking out a Newmarket business.

The police, monitors and street patroller were given details of the car and the suspects and were waiting to pounce when they re-appeared.

Cameras are able to zoom in from more than 100 metres away and the clarity of the footage is striking.

"The beauty of it is if they want to say ‘no, I wasn’t there, that wasn’t me’ our footage is so clear there’s just no denying it," Ms Spiller says.

The ability to go back through footage means police can be more proactive when a crime is reported after the incident.

"Instead of saying ‘sorry, we can’t do anything’ we can tell people we’ll go back and see what we can come up with," Ms Spiller says.

"It’s all about a pre-emptive, proactive, preventative approach."

Ian Brighty, a retired senior sergeant who served the police for more than 40 years, is one of two monitors based at the station.

Checking old footage to find evidence for the police is a large part of his job.

"It’s very time consuming but it’s interesting," he says.

"There’s no chance of getting bored round here. There’s always something, from the police radio or from Adam on the street."

He works with Newmarket Security officer Adam Wheeler to check out suspicious activities.

Mr Brighty keeps an eye on the computer screens, panning around watching for anything out of the ordinary.

"You’re looking for suspicious people.

"For example if it’s a nice sunny day and someone’s walking down the street with a hoody on."

Business association general manager Cameron Brewer says having the system is acting as a deterrent for crooks.

"Adam is saying to suspicious people, skateboarders, vagrants and the like, ‘guys, there’s a camera up there recording everything you do.’

"They’re high-tailing out of town pretty quickly."

He wants to see other town centres pick up on the idea.

"We think we’ve got a unique model. The capital cost of buying equipment can be hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we avoid all that by paying a monthly performance-based service fee."

Images are recorded 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are stored for 30 days.

The system costs the business association $150,000 per year, which works out at about $100 per member. This includes the service fee and the employment of monitoring personnel and a foot patrol.

- © Fairfax NZ News