City of Melbourne parking officers to be issued with body cameras to deter assaults

Inner-city parking officers are increasingly worried about getting assaulted on the job. See which measures are being introduced to deal with the problem.

Inner-city parking officers will be equipped with body cameras to deter angry motorists from assaulting and abusing them.

Concern over assaults has seen some City of Melbourne officers work in pairs, contributing to a $1.8 million shortfall in expected fine revenue for the council over a six-month period.

Australian Services Union organiser Tony White said his members were regularly assaulted just for doing their job.

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“They get yelled at, they get spat at — it’s not uncommon,” he said.

Mr White said union members started working in pairs late last year following perceptions of increasing threats and an escalation of actual ­violence.

“They took a cue from Victoria Police who walk around the city in groups of four and five,” he said.

About 50 incidents, mainly verbal abuse, were reported by council parking officers last year.

A City of Melbourne spokeswoman said the council was looking to introduce body cameras as a safety measure.

“A number of other councils around Australia are using this technology and have reported a significant drop in incidents,” she said.

“The streets are our officers’ workplace and we do not tolerate any form of abuse encountered by our officers in the course of their work.”

Concern over assaults has seen some City of Melbourne officers work in pairs. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Boroondara Council, in the city’s inner east, started issuing body cameras to enforcement officers last year after a spate of violent incidents.

Mayor Jane Addis said the move had led to a significant reduction in the incidence of aggressive behaviour by ­motorists towards officers.

“The ongoing use of body cameras has favourably impacted by providing a safer working environment for our staff,” Ms Addis said.

Body cameras are also used by councils in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.

Melbourne City Council had expected $21.1 million in parking fine revenue for the first six months of 2018-19, but actually received $19.1 million, according to the council’s latest quarterly financial ­report.

The council spokeswoman said the decline was due to factors including a small number of officers working in pairs, the impact of extreme weather on on-road staff in recent months, and vacancies in the enforcement team which were being advertised.

However, the financial report showed the council had collected $27.6 million in parking fees over the six-month period — $1.05 million more than expected.

Last year, the council reaped a record $44.3 million in parking fines, and $46.6 million from parking fees.

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