Police are getting reports of increasing disorder at the Great King St hub, as they await better security camera surveillance at the site given cameras at the hub are not activated.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen said there had been a spike in anecdotal reports of issues involving young people at the hub.
Some schools had even taken to sending people there to keep an eye on their pupils, he said.
Issues he had been told of included youths being drunk, getting into fights, huffing aerosols, bullying, and generally being intimidating.
Officers did patrol the area to see what was happening, but as soon as they left, "they kick back off".
But because problems were not being officially reported, it was difficult to act on them, he said.
"Cameras would help us follow up on any reports, and we’re looking forward to them coming on board.
"There’s been quite a delay since they were first proposed."
Otago Regional Council (ORC) transport implementation lead Julian Phillips said the cameras were not turned on. The ORC did not explain why.
There were CCTV cameras working on the majority of buses, he said.
Other safety improvements around traffic congestion in the bus hub area were being considered.
Dunedin City Council property services group manager David Bainbridge-Zafar said the council was working with the ORC on an agreement to transfer responsibility for the bus hub cameras from ORC ownership to council ownership. They would be monitored by police.
The transfer would happen once the ORC completed technical work at its end and both parties had signed a deed of agreement.
The 11 cameras to be transferred would add to the council’s existing network of 225 CCTV cameras, most of which were inside council-owned buildings, he said.
The network also included 13 city safety cameras operating in the Octagon, which were monitored by police.
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My memory must be playing up, I'm sure the bus hub is beside the Police Station???
The Dunedin Central Police Station is right there in the Center of the bus hub, on the very same street! I'm surprised that alone is not a deterrent to those offending in that area. At least the police don't have far to go to sort out the issues on their own doorstep.
"Police are getting reports of increasing disorder at the Great King St hub, as they await better security camera surveillance at the site given cameras at the hub are not activated" errr what?, so they are going to waste money buying "better" cameras because the ones there aren't turned on?, why don't they just switch em on?. Sounds a lot like the dcc, spending money needlessly.
That article beggars belief. Why haven't they being switched on and why aren't they still on until the transfer? Anecdotal reports??? So the police need an official report to effectively "act on them". If some schools has taken to sending people to keep an eye on their pupils, surely this is evidence enough. And all happening right under the police's nose.
"Otago Regional Council (ORC) transport implementation lead Julian Phillips said the cameras were not turned on. The ORC did not explain why."
This is the same regional council that wants to increase my rates. You've got to be kidding me...