Police back security camera plan

By Justin Robertson
PAKENHAM police say they would back a council proposal to install security cameras at Cardinia Life, following a flashing incident at the centre last month.
The shire is looking at several ways to beef up security at the centre and if it chose surveillance cameras, Pakenham police sergeant Paul Bruders said the safety initiative would assist police in future investigations.
“Following any situation, we check for camera’s right away to see what information it recorded and what sort of behaviour took place,” he said.
“Sometimes we are able to identify the perpetrators from the video camera, with face recognition, so it’s clearly a good investigative tool for us.”
Sgt Bruders said although the council will be looking at a variety of measures to curb future incidents, security cameras are an “extremely good deterrent”.
“Not only is it a good deterrent, but also a source of evidence we can refer back to,” he said.
Cardinia Shire communications officer Andrea Bortolin said the shire is committed to maintaining a safe municipality.
“As part of our ongoing commitment, council is continuing to investigate ways to further improve security at Cardinia Life,” she said.
Casey Arc has 16 security cameras on site which were installed during its construction.
City of Casey acting manager of sport and leisure James Rouse said security cameras are only part of the process to ensure its visitors feel safe.
“The primary focus is on the constant staff supervision of all areas of the facility,” he said.
“This includes regular checks of the change rooms within the centre.”