CCTV network benefits Kaitaia communityADVERTORIAL

• Author: Angela Phillipps Far North Safer Community Council
• Published date: 04 November 2021
• Publication title: Northland Age, The

It all started as a Community Safety Initiative that was developed by stakeholders in the community who wanted ACTION through working collectively.

The overall aim was to reduce dishonesty, crime, prevent further criminal offences and to reduce victimisation. Relationships were formed across the community with businesses, Kaitaia Business Association, Schools, Police, Ministry of Social Development, Local Government and the wider community to achieve its results with Total Security, Kaitaia Police and Kaitaia Business Association as the key organisations to deliver the initiative.

The initiative involved the set-up and management of alarm monitoring & CCTV monitoring, installation of the CCTV network, management of individual businesses who wanted to have their external cameras monitored and the ongoing management of maintenance and repairs to the network.

Since the inception of the initiative, there has been a dramatic decrease in petty crime, consistent decline in burglaries, reduction in victimisation and a strengthening of the communities’ networks.

This is all thanks to those who made it happen, demonstrating collective impact at it’s best. There are now just under 170 cameras operating across the network, and there is over 28,560 hours of footage recorded every week.

On average, there are over sixty incidents prevented every month purely because of the CCTV monitoring.

The monitoring team find it is a powerful tool for preventing crime in our small...