A TENDER to upgrade the size and quality of Kawerau District Council’s security camera network will close in January.
Councillors agreed to upgrade the town’s 13 cameras and add six new cameras in September.
During a regulatory and services committee meeting last month the council heard how security cameras from Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatane were monitored at the Rotorua police station.
Operations and services manager Tom McDowall said police had offered to monitor Kawerau’s footage at this same centralised hub when suitable.
Kawerau police have access to the cameras but generally use the footage to identify perpetrators after a crime has been committed, rather than monitoring unfolding events.
When the tender process closes at the beginning of next year a funding application will be made to the Eastern Bay Energy Trust to raise the money to pay for the upgrade.
Source: Whakatane Beacon