The CCTV cameras which will appear in central Wanaka later this year should provide an effective investigative tool while also helping to prevent crime and promote public safety, Sergeant Aaron Nicholson says.
The closed-circuit cameras will be installed as a joint project between Wanaka police and the Queenstown Lakes District Council.
Sgt Nicholson said the cameras had been planned for the past few years and had now been made possible thanks to $25,000 from the QLDC and $47,000 from the Sovereign Trust.
Public safety and peace of mind would be an obvious benefit of the cameras.
"We're not a 24-7 police station and we can't have police on every corner when you need them and the cameras can fill that void," Sgt Nicholson said.
"We're not making it a covert thing or a secret thing. Iit might just make people feel a bit more comfortable out on the street."
Some "significant" police investigations in Wanaka in recent years, including a serial tyre-slashing case and a series of arson attacks on telephone boxes, had been resolved successfully with the help of cameras installed by commercial operators in and around their buildings, so the CCTV cameras would play a key role in investigating crimes, Sgt Nicholson said.
Police and the council are working together on where best to place the cameras in Wanaka.
