More city surveillance on the way

Hundreds of surveillance cameras are capturing people in the CBD and workplaces - and even in unexpected places such as school toilet blocks, daycare centres and private homes.
And city officials have revealed that at least a further six are planned for central Tauranga.
The Privacy Commissioner estimates there are "tens of thousands" of security cameras in New Zealand.
The exact number in the Bay is unknown but there are hundreds of cameras under verandas, on lamp posts, slung below traffic signals and hidden in ceilings.
Cameras in the home are becoming more popular in the Bay and can be bought from as little as $2000, according to Keith Margan, managing director of Nutech Security in Tauranga.
"People have cameras on swimming pools, spa pools, front doors, the nursery ...
"If you have a fixed IP address you can check them from anywhere in the world. And if you have an iPhone you can log on to your digital video recorder (DVR) and look at your home - as long as you have the gear and software to go with it."
Mr Margan recommended home cameras and monitored house alarms also be monitored by security companies.
"It's safer. If we see three guys with masks and one with a shotgun we can warn the respondent so they don't go [in] blindly.
"So Big Brother is watching but it's not as bad as England where they have a billion cameras everywhere."
And even school and daycare centres are taking no chances.
Otumoetai Intermediate has spent close to $80,000 on fixed cameras at the school, as well as roving cameras that can zoom in on people.
Principal Henk Popping said 14 cameras watched areas including the sick bay, so unwell students could be monitored.
Cameras had also been placed over basins in the bathrooms, to monitor who came in and out of the toilets and stop "sky-larking", he said.
Students knew the cameras were there and would often "wash their hands and wave at the camera".
In Te Puke the owner of Giggles Educare daycare centre, Shona Ua-Marsh, has nine cameras throughout the nursery and pre-school, allowing parents who have children at the centre to access them through the internet via passwords.
Tauranga City Council sets aside $150,000 a year to monitor and maintain 35 security cameras in Tauranga and Mount Maunganui.
Each security camera is worth about $9000 and Environmental Compliance and Monitoring team leader Paul Mason said the downtown cameras had contributed to 1100 arrests in the past year.
He said footage was stored for only 30 days unless it was being used for evidential purposes.
Tauranga police Inspector Karl Wright-St Clair said recorded images could be obtained either by search warrant or under the provisions of the Privacy Act.
In the past, police had used CCTV footage to help solve homicides, armed robbery, serious assaults and rape, Mr Wright-St Clair said.
"Most CCTV is about safety, be it crime or road safety, and the police support anything that helps make Tauranga and Western Bay a safer place to live."
At Bayfair Shopping Centre, manager Andrew Wadsworth said there were 40 cameras across the centre and the carpark.
Cameras cover the outskirts of the centre and also go on to Girven and Maunganui Rds.
Tauranga firm Enternet Online's Wave Cam at Mount Maunganui Main Beach can be tilted, More city surveillance cameras on way
panned 190 degrees and zoomed, and is intended for checking surf and weather conditions.
Director Terry Coles said it was possible to zoom in on beachgoers but recognition was difficult.
"It's pretty low resolution. There's a lot better stuff on the internet if you're going to look for girls. You'd have to be pretty desperate to use that," he said.
Mr Margan, of Nutech, said general observation cameras in the public sector were becoming "far more prevalent" in order to prevent crime and/or catch it taking place.
"If you're caught cold turkey you can say what you like ... video footage goes to the truth, shortens the process, and saves a lot of taxpayer money."
Covert security cameras in the workplace are becoming more popular, and they're watching out not only for money or property theft but also for the stealing of time.
Owner of Vidguard Security Tauranga Greg Price said cameras could be placed covertly in the workplace but recording audio was illegal.
He said businesses were legally allowed to install hidden cameras without telling their workers.
Stealing was the top concern for employers and "nine of 10 times it's happening because of drugs, alcohol or gambling" problems, he said.
Mr Price said cameras had caught workers doing everything from smoking P, taking money from the till, drinking on the job, mucking around on inappropriate internet sites and stealing.
He's also caught a security guard taking petty cash at night from an educational institute - but not before the accused spent over an hour, with his torch, poking holes in dimpled panels in the ceiling trying to find a camera.
Turns out the camera was in a filing box on top of a cabinet and infra-red lighting was used to watch him in action.
Mr Price said "sweethearting" - the practice of check-out operators scanning one item but not the next - was an issue in supermarkets.
The Privacy Commissioner last year released new guidance on how businesses, local government and other agencies can use CCTV while still protecting privacy. "CCTV is proliferating, in New Zealand as well as overseas," Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said.
"It seems that everywhere you look, someone has a camera trained on you. This raises questions such as what exactly the images are being used for, how secure they are from misuse or unauthorised viewing, whether the cameras are unnecessarily intrusive and so on."
Cameras are also used for health and safety purposes and identifying potential hazards.
Assistant Privacy Commissioner Katrine Evans said people did not seem to be concerned with CCTV, as long as it was used correctly.
"If people believe that a CCTV scheme has breached their privacy, they should query things with the organisation. If they're still not satisfied, they are welcome to make a complaint to us and we'll look into it."
CCTV CAMERAS IN THE CITY: FIND OUT WHERE THEY ARE. SEE THE FULL STORY IN SATURDAY'S BAY OF PLENTY TIMES