Geelong crime: Inside the New York-style surveillance hub keeping Geelong safe
A New York-style surveillance hub is tracking your every move in the Geelong CBD as part of a cutting-edge crime fighting and prevention strategy. Take a look inside.
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A man sits on Little Malop Street in the Geelong CBD blissfully unaware his every move is being watched, in real time, from above.
The camera zooms in on his slightly weathered face, controlled with a joystick by a police officer in a state-of-the-art CCTV hub inside the city’s police headquarters.
He’s suspected of being a patient from a mental health ward reported missing earlier that day.
“We always get missing persons and they tend to come into the CBD,” Senior Constable Clint Holdsworth said.
“This man is from a local mental health facility and is a person of interest for us.”
The camera moves in further, with the officer keen to quickly establish if his suspicions are correct.
“He looks like he’s put on a bit of weight since I last saw him, so I’m just going to make sure we ID him correctly and I will get a unit to attend,” he said.
“We’ll grab a name off him and if it’s him, we’ll take him back.”
Mystery solved.
Meanwhile on the waterfront, a man can be seen leaving a popular licensed venue dancing a little wobbly in front of a security guard.
It’s only 6.30pm on a sun-kissed Saturday evening but this gentleman, probably in his 50s, looks well hydrated to say the least.
Little does he know he is the star of his very own show on one of the 25 monitors that cover the walls of the police control room.
“At night time we focus on the nightclubs,” Senior Constable Holdsworth said.
“People have no idea they are being watched.”
The cutting-edge technology forms part of a proactive crime fighting and prevention strategy by Victoria Police in the state’s second biggest city.
The New York-style surveillance hub is equipped with more than 115 cameras positioned throughout the Geelong CBD by the City of Greater Geelong in a symbiotic relationship with the local law enforcement to prevent crime before it occurs.
It’s an expensive but valuable operation, with each camera costing around $3500 to install and run.
They operate with incredible efficiency.
Senior Constable Holdsworth was able to track this very journalist walking from the station around the block to the courthouse using multiple cameras.
It’s not quite The Truman Show, but comparisons can be drawn.
“We can focus in and out, we can roam the cameras around, move and pan them to where we want,” he said.
“I know even when I go into the CBD now that I’m being watched.
“We’re watching all the time to keep the community safe.”
Geelong Divisional Liquor Licensing Unit Sergeant Andrew Harris said the partnership with City of Greater Geelong, implemented more than a decade ago, has enabled his division to quickly identify thugs and hot spots across the city where trouble is brewing.
“One of the beauties of it is you can follow people around and see where they go into or where they have come out of,” he said.
“This is prior to an offence, and after the offence as well.
“We can then use the venues ID scanning to establish the identity of offenders that way.”
He said the cameras had given his division “a really good clean up rate” for serious assaults in the city’s many bars, pubs and clubs.
Behind Melbourne, Geelong is one of the state’s biggest trouble spots for nightclub and bar assaults, reporting more violence in its venues than almost any other local government area.
“The fact that we can live feed incidents or hot spot areas where it looks like it’s going to flare up, and then use our brawler van to attend those areas in quick time, is invaluable,” he said.
“It can often prevent the occurrence of crime.”
City of Greater Geelong CCTV project officer, Steve Spiranovic, said the network is funded by council, as well as previous state and federal government support.
In addition to the CBD surveillance, there are cameras in Belmont, Highton, Grovedale, Waurn Ponds, Leopold and as far as Ocean Grove, installed to help combat anti-social behaviour.
More than $100,000 worth of investment in field equipment was required to build the police hub.
“In the early days we would have been lucky to have 10 cameras,” Mr Spiranovic said.
“The CCTV network has matured in recent years with ageing equipment being replaced and new hot spots requiring CCTV support. Fighting crime is not a council job, our job is to ensure our community feels welcome, safe and connected.”
With Geelong’s population projected to reach over 400,000 residents by 2035, Mr Spiranovic said the CCTV network will play a key role in supporting their city safety objectives.
Meanwhile back in the camera control room, Senior Constable Holdsworth was hoping for a quiet shift but said the nights were unpredictable.
His gaze is kept busy by a group of young men leaving a beer festival at Johnstone Park.
They’ve clearly had a good time, but appear well behaved.
The camera pans out.
The officer said he had witnessed some horrific assaults in real time, and some intense car pursuits involving the police air wing.
“Hopefully not tonight,” he said.
“You do see a lot and anything can happen.”
If and when it does, rest assured the police have eyes in the sky everywhere.
Watching.
Mark Murray is the crime reporter for the Geelong Advertiser. Get in touch at mark.murray@news.com.au
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Originally published as Geelong crime: Inside the New York-style surveillance hub keeping Geelong safe
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