The three cameras are owned and managed by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and were installed just before Christmas at known trouble spots in Wanaka's CBD.
The cameras' monitoring and recording devices are based at the Wanaka police station.
Council staff have the capacity to access images dating back several months.
Snr Sgt Grindell said while the camera feeds were yet to be monitored full time, the footage they provided was another "tool in our arsenal" and Wanaka police officers were "pretty impressed with them" so far.
"An offender was apprehended and arrested [based on camera footage] for theft of a sign, and we have used them in other inquiries, such as theft of an expensive mountain bike and a shoplifting matter," Snr Sgt Grindell said.
On one particular evening, on-duty officers had observed "some violence" on the monitor at the police station as it was being recorded live through one of the cameras on the lakefront.
"They rushed out and arrested two men for fighting."
QLDC Wanaka capital works project manager Rob Darby said more cameras had been bought with the $47,000 First Sovereign Trust CCTV system grant the council received, and they would be installed as extra funding became available.
"It's certainly a system that can be added on to quite extensively in the future," he said.
"The idea is to ... every year expand the system slowly and progressively. And it's not only limited to areas of concern from a nightlife point of view, it's also to do with ... traffic management and keeping an eye on council's infrastructure."
Mr Darby said eventually, cameras could be installed at places such as wastewater treatment plants and drinking water intakes.
"If there's a warning that comes through the system then you can already have a look and see what's going on there fairly quickly, before sending someone out there."
