As Kerikeri and Dargaville look at installing CCTV cameras, Whangarei police are praising the worth of the security systems as a valuable crime-fighting tool.
Police in both Kerikeri and Dargaville are working with local business owners to try to set up closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the central business districts
to deter crime.
Whangarei's top cop, Inspector Paul Dimery, said the cameras were more than proving their worth in the city, where a number are in place around the CBD, monitored by volunteers based at the Whangarei police station.
There had been some outstanding work done by the volunteers monitoring the cameras in recent weeks, Mr Dimery said. "On June 4, three males were observed on the cameras. They were drinking liquor in the liquor ban area and were acting suspiciously," he said.
"The three were located and it was established that they had just broken into three vehicles on the John St carpark. The volunteer located rubbish bins where the offenders had disposed of the stolen items."
Mr Dimery said that on June 10 a person was arrested for possession of cannabis for supply after a volunteer saw them on the CCTV cameras.
"These are just two examples of some outstanding work carried out on a daily basis by the volunteers," he said.
Dargaville police are supporting the call from business association chairwoman Sandy Robertson for CCTV cameras in the town's central business district and at strategic access points.
Dargaville police Detective Sergeant Jonathan Tier said cameras provided accurate descriptions of the offenders, their vehicle and the direction they had taken.
Kerikeri is a step closer to installing CCTV in the centre of town, with police working with the owners of New World and the Kerikeri Domain Trust to look at installing cameras in the Domain and elsewhere around the CBD.
Kerikeri police Sergeant Phil Le Comte supported the initiative, which he said would benefit "all sorts of people".
Police in the Bay of Islands did not have the resources to monitor cameras day and night, as was done in larger centres such as Whangarei, but the recorded images were "worth gold".
If there was an incident in the town, police could go back through the footage to identify who was responsible.
