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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 365 ..

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

Video Surveillance Cameras

(Question No. 59)

Mr Stanhope asked the Minister for Justice and Community Safety, upon notice:

In relation to the proposed trial of video surveillance cameras in Civic -

(1) What benchmarks will be set upon which to base an assessment;

(2) Who will undertake this assessment;

(3) How much will the proposed trial cost;

(4) When will it begin;

(5) What impact will the trial have on police operational numbers; and

(6) How many police will be taken off other duties to monitor cameras.

Mr Humphries: The answer to Mr Stanhope's question is as follows:

(1) As indicated in my department's submission to the third Assembly's Standing Committee on Legal Affairs inquiry into the use of surveillance cameras, an evaluation of a safety camera system would set out to establish that the use of CCTV in nominated public places is an acceptable and effective means of:

. assisting police respond to incidents in the nominated area;

. assisting police investigate incidents in the nominated area;

. assisting the prosecution of offenders involved in incidents in the nominated area;

. deterring offending in the nominated area;

. helping people to feel safer while in the nominated area; and

. achieving all of these aims while being managed in a way which protects any information gathered from being used for any purposes other than lawful ones, such as the giving of evidence or the identification of offenders.

To this end, the intention would be to collect, analyse and evaluate data on:

. The number of incidents recorded, in terms of type, day and time;

. The number and type of incidents that safety cameras helped police respond to at the time of the incident;

. The number and type of incidents that safety cameras helped police investigate;

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