Qld Police to watch CCTV on iPads

Brisbane police officers will be able to watch live CCTV footage on iPads and smartphones as part of an effort to reduce violence in the city’s entertainment hot spots.

Under the Brisbane City Council’s $970,000 investment into expanding and upgrading its CCTV network under its ‘City Safe’ program, Brisbane police will as of this week be able to access a mobile livestream of the 73-camera network across the city and Fortitude Valley, to enable earlier detection of and intervention in criminal incidents in the nightclub districts.

Police will log onto the network through their iPads and smartphones - provided as a result of the Queensland Police’s mobility pilot, which has so far seen all 435 of its frontline troops equipped with the tablets - to watch the CCTV footage in real-time.

Police will be able to select specific cameras to access, with up to six able to be viewed at one time; take high-definition screen grabs from the footage; and rewind and replay video. 

Police were previously required to attend a central command unit to view CCTV footage.

The new capability is currently available via five iPads but the number is due for expansion. 

“If troublemakers think they’re safe because there are no police in sight, they should remember officers could be watching them on their iPad a block away,” Police minister Jack Dempsey said.

“These upgrades have expanded our reach and everyone needs to remember we’ll be watching. That’s a comfort to the people who do the right thing and a warning to those who don’t.”

The minister said the cameras installed as part of City Safe last year helped prevent around 1150 serious assaults and identify 12,380 incidents. 

Brisbane City Council invested $550,000 into the City Safe project, alongside a $350,000 grant from the Queensland Government and a $73,000 grant from the Federal Government. 

Queensland’s frontline police officers have been progressively equipped with iPads and iPhones since July last year, following the start of a mobile workforce pilot designed to cut down on administration time and boost productivity by allowing police to access three databases while on the road.

The QPS-developed QLiTE mobile app lets officer check and access databases which would otherwise have only been accessible by returning to the station by or by using a two-way radio to communicate requests to personnel at the police communications centre.