“Intrusive and oppressive” is how the Australian Privacy Foundation has described a new CCTV surveillance partnership between Tasmania Police and the Hobart City Council.
Under the scheme, police have been granted real-time access to footage from all 330 of the council’s cameras in every corner of the city.
At any time, officers can use a ‘portal’ at the Hobart Police Station to play back footage, record it, download it or watch it live.
Privacy Foundation Chair David Vaile questioned the need for such a large number of cameras, saying over 300 was an “absolutely massive number”.
“What’s the purpose? What’s the oversight and accountability mechanism? And why do they need it?” he told The Guardian.
“Is there an out-of-control rash of crime? Hobart is one of the safer cities.”
“You need transparency, accountability and openness for something so intrusive and oppressive.”
Announcing the partnership on Thursday, Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds said the cameras were “not going into private spaces” and are simply now a “part of modern life”.
“It really is to help assist when things go wrong in the city,” she said.
“And that’s why it’s fantastic that our footage is now coming straight into the police so that they can use it in the most strategic way.”
“It’s something that we’re very happy to be part of.”
Tasmania Police Commander Jason Elmer said officers have been using the system for a number of weeks.
“Already it has assisted in a number of matters across the city, including assisting police officers on the ground in apprehending offenders following incidents,” he said.
“It assisted in ensuring the welfare of a group of people who were recently stuck on Mount Wellington and then subsequently rescued by City of Hobart employees.”
More on this story: 300+ CCTV cameras let Tasmania Police officers keep watch on Hobart
