War of wars erupts over Brisbane City Council’s CCTV rollout

Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy has lashed out at Council after claims the security cameras in crime hotspots pledged in last year’s election campaign might not be installed for years.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Picture David Clark

Mobile security cameras promised for 26 Brisbane crime hot spots during last year’s council election campaign might not be installed for years, with the LNP administration now committing only to roll them out “this term’’.

The Labor Opposition claimed the CCTV cameras were supposed to have been installed this month, but a council spokeswoman said that was a “bare faced lie’’.

The stoush comes after serious attacks at one of the proposed sites, near a bus stop in Forest Lake in the city’s southwest, and calls from a run club organiser to do more to protect women using bush trails.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner pledged two weeks before the Brisbane council elections on March 16 last year to increase surveillance by installing 26 mobile cameras across the city as part of the Council’s Suburban Safety Cameras program.

Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said the announcement is “nothing but a broken promise” as opposition claim it was stated in a budget information session last year that rollout out would start this month.

Cr Jared Cassidy. Picture: Richard Walker

“The LNP Council said they’d start rolling out 26 mobile cameras this month, but now they’ve admitted there is no plan in place,” Mr Cassidy said.

“The Lord Mayor needs to come clean with the people of Brisbane, have these mobile cameras become another victim of LNP cuts.

“Adrian Schrinner is a master at announcing something for a headline but failing to deliver, and now it’s at the detriment of community safety.”

A Brisbane City Council spokeswoman confirmed that there has been no update on the rollout and would be happening this term.

“This is another bald-faced lie by Labor, whose soft-on-crime approach and dodgy deal with the Greens would have made Brisbane residents feel less safe in their homes,” Chair of Finance and City Governance CR Fiona Cunningham said.

Katie Dall hosts several run clubs across inner city Brisbane and a self defence workshop for women and said having mobile cameras would deter people and help catch the perpetrators.

“And add an extra level of safety. It will give us peace of mind. I do talk about it a lot with my community,” Ms Dall said.

Over 80 surveillance cameras were installed last year at Mt Coot-Tha walking tracks after reports of women being targeted on the trails.

Ms Dall said while this has helped runners return to the trail more areas across Brisbane are growing increasingly “unsafe” for women.

“The concerning thing and the things we learn in the workshops is that we shouldn’t be running even during the day. West End has become so dangerous due to the level of homelessness and the increase of mental health issues in the area,” Ms Dall said.

There are currently more than 3700 cameras in Council’s CitySafe camera network that are installed in different locations, including parks and public spaces, based on community needs and advice from police.

$1.8m has been committed to enhance and grow the CCTV network this financial year, with more than $370,000 since been invested into expanding Council’s safety camera network in the past 12 months.

Permanent safety cameras have been installed in five locations, Luxworth Place in Moorooka, Tinchi Tamba Wetlands in Boondall, Minnippi Parklands in Murarrie and Musgrave Park in West End. As well as the Forest Lake bus stop (100, 110 Service).

The new cameras provide 24/7 surveillance to increase safety and deter anti-social behaviour with the site chosen in consultation with the Queensland Police Service.

It is understood further permanent installations will be rolled out as soon as possible.

Meanwhile Griffith University senior lecturer in cyber technology Dr David Tuffley questions why the mobile cameras have yet to be rolled out across Brisbane.

“Is there a good reason why it hasn’t been done yet? Every night in the streets of Brisbane, in the suburbs, there are crimes being committed, and this could help lessen that,” Dr Tuffley said.

Dr Tuffley said there is no good reason to wait for the cameras as crime is occurring in the streets of Brisbane.

“I live in the Redlands, and we have the same problem there. There’s you know in the middle of the night, two o’clock in the morning and there’s three to four kids wandering around the streets, bare feet, in a hoodie up over their face and they are coming into peoples front yards,” Dr Tuffley said.

Queensland Police were contacted for comment.