Senior Constable Sean Drader, of Queenstown said he hoped those in the resort would now "feel a degree safer".
He said research had shown cameras reduced crime.
In the 1990s, analog cameras were installed in central areas but Snr Const Drader said the cost of maintenance meant they eventually fell into disrepair and stopped working.
This time around the cameras are digital. They will transmit data to a receiver at the top of Ben Lomond, which would send the pictures to the Queenstown police station. Two of the cameras can be tilted, panned and zoomed.
Snr Const Drader said a great deal of research was done to determine the best locations for the cameras, since the previous system's failure was in part an attempt to cover too big an area with each camera.
"The principle behind the system is identification." The technology used meant there was the opportunity to use footage in a court trial, although Snr Const Drader said trials generally relied on witnesses and "video evidence [was] secondary".
"It's not likely to film what happened but if you have seen someone run away in a green and white top ... "
He hoped the area covered by CCTV cameras would be expanded over time, but warned that while people might think the new cameras would operate all the time, this was not possible "at this stage".
Queenstown Lakes District Council community services manager Paul Wilson said the cameras were approved as part of the council's last annual district district plan.
He said the council would fund the electricity used by the cameras and also their maintenance and the wireless network links but "the equipment is all under the control of police".
The council and police were signing a memorandum of understanding and the public would not have access to the images captured by the cameras, he said.
- christina.mcdonald@odt.co.nz
