Increasing reports of fighting, drug and alcohol use, and violent assaults at the centre city hub have been made in recent months, both to police and on social media.
In March the Otago Daily Times revealed CCTV cameras at the site were not operating, making it difficult for police to follow up on some incidents.
Yesterday regional council transport implementation lead Julian Phillips said seven of the 11 cameras were now working.
A further three were expected to be operating by the end of the week, and one had been sent away for repairs.
Now that the cameras were operational, the next step was to transfer ownership to the Dunedin City Council, he said.
That conversation was ongoing, but the bus hub would be under CCTV surveillance in the meantime.
Dunedin Tramways Union delegate Alan Savell said from a bus driver’s perspective, having the cameras operating was brilliant.
But he was unsure how much of a difference they would make to the issues in the area.
"Most of the issues are young people, or alcohol. They’re not necessarily thinking of consequences when those actions are carried out."
However, if someone was caught behaving badly on security footage and it stopped incidents happening again, that could only be positive, he said.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said CCTV could be an important tool for both the prevention and investigation of crime.
"Police cannot be everywhere all the time, so we welcome this additional resource in a high traffic area like the bus hub."
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Comments
"Police cannot be everywhere all the time"....
Is it just me, or can anyone else see the Central Police Station in the background of the above photo?!
I've seen this ridiculous argument so many times in relation to these stories.
Do you expect the Police to have someone standing at a window all day just looking at the bus hub? Get real. The best way for Police to monitor the area is via the cameras as they do now with other cameras situated around the city.
I think the point of the comment is the police must come and go, or do you think they should just sit in front of cameras all day or go out and be a visual presence??
And lets be fair it is their job to keep people safe, no one is asking them to do any thing they didn't sign up for!!!
Wow....Looks like I hit a raw spot!
I EXPECT a member of the public to contact the NEARBY police station, and have an officer wander out of that building to investigate. I EXPECT the police to show more than a passing interest in keeping an eye out of the windows of the NEARBY police station. I EXPECT recent incidents to have raised the alert level of officers as they leave and enter this building.
That's not too much to ask, is it?