POLICE EYE ON PARK
CCTV cameras to keep constant watch on troubled-plagued skate facility
UNRULY youths committing offences will be watched, tracked and prosecuted when a new live-feed CCTV system is installed at the Waurn Ponds skate park.
The state-of-the-art CCTV system will be delivered as part of a suite of upgrades funded through a $250,000 State Government community safety grant.
The grant will allow the City of Greater Geelong to install two CCTV cameras that directly feed into the Waurn Ponds police station, as well as additional lighting, new landscaping and park infrastructure including toilets, fences and shelters.
Geelong Acting Inspector Shane Madigan said police had been called to a number of incidents at the skate park, including trolley fires lit by young offenders.
Insp Madigan said poor lighting meant youths were often out of sight and believed they could behave antisocially without consequences.
“We’ve had kids in the bowl and we wouldn’t know about it and we would only find about it where there was broken bottles and glass when families were trying to enjoy themselves the next day,” Insp Madigan said.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us — they will stream the CCTV back to Waurn Ponds. That helps us as a preventive tool but also in convicting offenders as well.”
Insp Madigan said police would be able to refer any identified recidivist offenders to specialist police, including members of the youth tasking unit, who would work to divert the young people away from reoffending.
Police Minister Lisa Neville said council had applied for the grant after a Victoria Police safety audit uncovered a number of concerns with the area’s safety.
“There’s no doubt this area … is a very worthy recipient of this funding,” Ms Neville said.
Geelong deputy mayor Peter Murrihy welcomed the grant and said councillors were determined to ensure the city’s extensive CCTV network cov- ered problem areas. “With the installation of CCTV, extra furniture and lighting it’s about making the park more inviting,” Cr Murrihy said.
“It would be the council’s wish to have CCTV across the whole city, which is not possible —— but certain areas, like the skate park, it is important.”
The skate park is one of 21 projects, and the only local project, to share in more than $2.7 million in funding through the 2018-19 round of Public Safety Infrastructure Fund grants.
Grants will be used to improve lighting, install CCTV, upgrade landscaping, streetscapes and facilities to increase natural surveillance and perceptions of safety for communities around the state.