Volunteers warned of trouble for central city streets after CCTV camera monitors given the boot

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

Wellington City councillor Fleur Fitzsimons spoke out in 2020 about the increasing violence in Courtenay Place.

A volunteer group which monitored Wellington CCTV cameras warned authorities the closure of the service would lead to trouble on the city’s streets.

The volunteer service was disestablished in May after many of the city council-owned camera monitoring screens were relocated, and police have since been dealing with a surge in alcohol-fuelled incidents in the central city.

The volunteers worked closely with police and were trained in things like monitoring escalating incidents and tracking offenders.

They monitored screens throughout the week and until 4.30am on Saturdays and Sundays.

Police Minister Stuart Nash visits the volunteer camera base at Wellington central police station in 2018. The service has been dissolved after operating for seven years.

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Police have been attending a serious incident on Wellington’s Courtenay Place almost every weekend in recent months. (File photo)

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Members of the group wrote to Police Minister Stuart Nash on July 8 warning the loss of the service could lead to trouble.

Wellington-based National list MP Nicola Willis says the decision to disband the volunteer service is “appalling’’. (File photo)

“There is a risk to officer safety with no real-time visual on night-time hot spots where disorder occurs,” the letter said.

“This has legal and moral implications should there be a serious incident.”

The volunteers provided information to frontline police staff to prepare them for situations or advise them if an incident had already been resolved, the letter said.

Over the past three years, they had responded to 655 playback requests from police, searching through 1638 hours of footage to find information for evidential purposes.

“Officers now need to do this work themselves, which represents a huge waste of police resources.

“Additionally, the volunteers, with their superior local knowledge and highly developed analytical skills, were often more successful in locating useful footage, and in a timely manner.”

Nash said police staff in the Wellington District Command Centre monitor their CCTV 24/7, and council cameras are a matter for the council to respond to.

A council spokeswoman said security staff had access to the camera network, and often assisted with incidents if no one else was monitoring the screens.

Volunteers wrote to Nash on July 8 warning of the dangers of closing the camera base. (File photo)

Local hosts monitored the screens during the coronavirus lockdown, but the council was recruiting for a full-time employee.

The screens were relocated as part of a wider upgrade of the council’s data network, and would be monitored by two staff members, the spokeswoman said.

Screens were often only monitored by one volunteer during night shifts at the former base, and sometimes not at all.

The 40-50 screens were formerly based at the Wellington central police station, but about half had now been moved to the city council’s premises as part of a network upgrade, according to former volunteer Annabel Young.

Hospitality New Zealand Wellington branch president Matt McLaughlin says staff are dealing with increasingly abusive behaviour. (File photo)

A volunteer at the police station for several years, Young said up to three volunteers previously monitored the screens at any one time.

However, screens at the police station were now often unattended, and there were no trained staff available to monitor screens at the council building, she said.

A large brawl on Courtenay Place early on Saturday was the latest violent incident to occur, with acting area commander Inspector Dion Bennett saying police were attending a serious incident almost every weekend in recent months.

Volunteers were initially told of the decision to disband the service on March 12.

The closure was due to happen at the end of June but was brought forward to late May.

Wellington-based National list MP Nicola Willis said the decision was “appalling”.

“The camera base was an essential part of Wellington’s crime-prevention armour and it came with very little cost to the ratepayer or taxpayer.

“These volunteers were a preventative force, gathering intelligence and monitoring our streets. Why get rid of such an obviously good thing? It’s not clear these volunteers have been replaced in any way shape or form.”

There was a suspicion gangs knew the camera screens were not being monitored, Willis said.

A city council spokesman said staff were watching the security cameras early on Saturday, but it was not clear whether they saw the Courtenay Place incident unfold. That would be the subject of a review.

Hospitality New Zealand Wellington branch president Matt McLaughlin said people’s behaviour had worsened in recent months, and on one occasion he was spat on.

“There is a really entitled behaviour out there that people think they can get away with speaking to our staff and abusing our staff.”

He was spat on by a man who refused to sign in for a quiz, he said.

“That kind of stuff is beyond appalling, that's the kind of issue we are currently dealing with constantly.'

Police did not want to comment on the matter.