City of Coffs Harbour will move towards providing NSW Police with real-time access to a limited number of the city’s public security cameras following community feedback.
Council adopted a revised Video Surveillance in Public Areas Policy at its meeting on 28 May. The City will now consider entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Coffs-Clarence Police District to enable controlled live access to specified cameras within the CCTV network.
Ten submissions were received during the public exhibition period for the draft policy. The feedback reflected community support for the use of CCTV to improve public safety, while also raising concerns about governance, privacy and the scope of the proposed access.
“Police have always been able to access footage from the City’s camera network but this has only been possible by way of them making a formal request, so that practice isn’t at all timely in an unfolding public safety situation,” Mayor Nikki Williams said.
“Once an MoU is reached, authorised officers only in the local command will be able to see footage in real-time enhancing the ability for an appropriate timely response.”
City Legal and Governance Services Group Leader Darryl Hancock said the policy includes safeguards governing access, including strong oversight, compliance with relevant privacy laws, and restrictions limiting access to the detection, investigation or prosecution of criminal offences, as well as public safety and emergency management purposes.
“In practice, police won’t be monitoring City CCTV feeds without cause – but it will give authorised officers the opportunity to view footage in real-time when they receive an incident report,” Hancock said.
“The City intends to provide authorised police with access to only those cameras in public areas where it is deemed appropriate.”
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