More than 23,000 incidents, ranging from medical emergencies and theft to vandalism and assaults, were identified by Brisbane City Council’s CitySafe camera network last financial year.
Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said Council’s CitySafe network was helping to ensure Brisbane continued to be a safe place to live, work and relax, with 131 cameras monitoring the city’s popular pedestrian precincts 24 hours a day.
“People who live and visit our great city have every right to feel safe while shopping, dining or visiting entertainment venues and CitySafe helps us enjoy these lifestyle and leisure opportunities in a safe environment,” Cr Quirk said.
“The CitySafe camera network is about putting practical measures in place to help Council keep our city streets safe for everyone, with more than 820 incidents identified and reported to the Police last financial year, with 290 of these resulting in further Police action.
“More than 2,100 people were identified as being disorderly and reported through the CitySafe program to ensure the situation didn’t escalate to become dangerous.
“Close to 6,000 people caused pedestrian safety issues by not dismounting their bikes, skateboards and rollerblades.
“The CitySafe network also identified 740 medical emergencies, 42 reports of vandalism, 31 robberies, 24 fires and eight assaults.
“The cameras are monitored around the clock, providing vital information to Police so that they can respond to incidents quickly and use video evidence against offenders if they progress with prosecution.
“Each camera is strategically positioned in consultation with the Police to provide visual coverage in areas where there is a high number of pedestrians or in precincts that have previously experienced anti-social behaviour.
“Council has been expanding the CitySafe network since the program first started in 1994, and there are now 93 high-tech cameras in the CBD entertainment precinct, as well as 38 in Fortitude Valley, providing state-of-the-art security.
“We are a New World City and Council continues to invest money into the CitySafe program, with 10 new cameras installed last financial year to upgrade and expand the network.
“All cameras include loud-speaker technology, with more than 2,200 messages broadcast last financial year for early intervention. In close to two-thirds of all incidents, the speaker technology stopped people in their tracks.”
Council is investing more than $1.2 million into the CitySafe network this financial year, which includes ensuring the state-of-the-art technology was updated and maintained on a regular basis to protect people’s privacy.