Catching you on camera

TAKE a walk through the centre of a town or city in the South, and there is a fair chance your movements are being screened live to police.

Southern district police now have access to 72 CCTV cameras across Otago, all of which supply a live video feed directly back to police.

Figures released this week under the Official Information Act show police now have access to 25 cameras in Dunedin, 16 in Queenstown, nine each in Oamaru and Arrowtown, eight in Balclutha and five in Wanaka.

Police have access to about 15 more in Southland, including in Gore and Invercargill.

Inspector Craig Brown, of Dunedin, said the cameras were owned and managed by the relevant city or regional councils.

The cameras are clustered around the central streets of each city or town.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner spokesman Sam Williams said police and councils have obligations under the Privacy Act when collecting and handling footage from CCTV cameras.

‘‘Our general guidance is that there should be clear signage letting people know cameras are operating in public places.

‘‘The signs don’t necessarily need to explain everything about the camera’s operation, but they should at minimum indicate who owns the cameras so people can contact them for more information.’’

Dunedin City Council group manager property services David Bainbridge said signs were not in place at all locations in Dunedin where cameras were installed.

‘‘Signs are in place already in some areas where cameras are present, such as the Octagon, and we are working to install appropriate, consistent signs in all our camera locations.

‘‘We hope to have this in place before the end of the year.’’

Clutha District Council group manager service delivery Jules Witt said signs were in place in Balclutha advising people crime prevention cameras were in use.

Queenstown Lakes District Council policy and performance programme manager Polly Lambert said each of the council’s townships has ‘‘CCTV in use’’ signage, but this was not located at each camera point.

Waitaki District Council community development co ordinator Helen Algar said signage was in place in Oamaru.

New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties chairman Thomas Beagle questioned whether police needed a constant live stream of the streets.

‘‘Ultimately there’s the overall questions: How much we do we need to be watched? Does it make us safer?’’