(Australia-NewsWire.Com, November 11, 2012 ) Victoria, Australia- Money seized from criminals should be used to pay for closed-circuit television cameras to fight crime, Australia’s opposition leader says.
Tony Abbott promised to spend $50 million over four years to set up CCTV cameras in high-crime areas. He was speaking Monday in Melbourne after images from a CCTV camera helped police arrest a murder suspect recently.
But Abbott said his pledge was not a response to the highly publicized slaying of a Brunswick woman. He noted that previous governments had pledged money to install CCTV cameras.
“This is an ongoing, long-term concern of ours, but obviously we’ve had recent evidence of how vital CCTV footage can be,” Abbott said, according to AAP.
Funding to set up the cameras and lights would be provided to local councils, with support of police.
“Crime should not pay, and where crime does pay, it should pay in the long run for safer communities,” Abbott said.
He toured the area along Chapel Street where CCTV cameras had been set up to aid police in monitoring nightlife.
The Gillard administration has taken steps to stop spending from confiscated funds. But Abbott’s proposal would resume the spending.
“We’ll ensure the money is split up between the various states and territories on a fair and proportionate basis,” he said.
In Jill Meagher’s disappearance, police found footage from a camera in a Brunswick store near where she was last seen. They were able to identify and charge a suspect in her murder.
The Meagher case illustrates the crime-fighting capability of CCTV cameras, Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said.
“It’s just a reminder that these cameras can play an important role in community safety,” he said, according to AAP.
The use of CCTV cameras to fight crime has its critics. A legal group has said the cameras could threaten privacy rights.
“A line definitely needs to be drawn in the sand as to where these cameras are installed and public accountability for authorities accessing footage without due cause,” said Greg Barnes in a statement from the Australian Lawyers Alliance. Barnes is a spokesman for the group.
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