Robina Cr Hermann Vorster installs new CCTV cameras in petty crime spree crackdown

BIG Brother is watching you, as city leaders work to create a ‘surveillance state’ in their suburbs.A new suburb has joined the roll out new CCTV cameras to combat a spike in crime.

GOLD Coast suburbs are becoming “surveillance states” in the push to crack down on petty crime.

More than 100 new cameras will be installed before next year’s Commonwealth Games to monitor visitors and patrons, with 14 cameras installed in Southport alone in the past year.

The mobile surveillance camera in a street in Robina, Gold Coast

Area councillor Dawn Crichlow said the council rolled out the cameras after commissioning a criminologist from Griffith University to assess how to improve safety measures.

“We were told it is all about improving light and I am told that we now have so many cameras here that there are not many places where you cannot be seen in central Southport,” she said.

“These days people are saying they do not feel unsafe here anymore and the cameras are a positive step in this direction.”

Cr Dawn Crichlow said the rollout of cameras had made the city safer. Picture Mike Batterham

According to figures released in August, the council has tripled the number of cameras in the city in the past decade — going from 73 in 2006 to 267.

In the 2015-16 financial year the council responded to 450 police requests for footage and recorded 6382 “incidents of note”.

Surfers Paradise has 111 cameras while Broadbeach has 75, Southport has 54 and Coolangatta has 27.

The Cameras are targeting problem locations.

But it’s not just the coastal suburbs getting in on the action, with more cameras now being installed in western suburbs on the back of an anecdotal rise in minor crimes.

Among those leading the charge is Robina Cr Hermann Vorster who this week installed a further four cameras in problem spots, including on Ron Penhaligon Way.

They join a further 30 already installed in the past year, turning the area into what he called a “surveillance state”.

Cr Hermann Vorster says locals feel unsafe after a crime spree, sparking the need for more cameras Picture Glenn Hampson

Cr Vorster said the move was in response to a recent spike in youth violence and property damage reported by residents and community groups, including the area’s Neighbourhood Watch group.

“Over the past two years we have seen a significant deterioration in behaviour in the area between Robina Common and Robina Tavern with gangs of youth vandalism on the shopping centres, smashing in skylights and destroying things,” he said.

“This $60,000 initiative reflects the community’s appetite to feel safe and comfortable as well as tackling the very real problems of bad behaviour and drug abuse.”