Why NSW Government is paying communities to install security cameras

The NSW Government has announced plans to pay local communities to install high-tech security measures.

The move, a pre-election law and order sweetener, will mean potentially thousands of new cameras on the streets of NSW, starting first in Western Sydney.

It may seem like cameras are already everywhere, capturing public and private moments, but the government wants more and is paying communities to roll them out.

“To know that not only are there extra police, but also extra cameras around to know that everybody is doing the right thing,” Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

Community groups and small businesses in 10 council areas across west and south-west Sydney from Penrith to Wollondilly will be offered the scheme.

Five million dollars over four years will result in grants worth $5000 each for cameras in places such as scout halls, and along main streets.

“It allows us to tap into a network which provides us with intelligence in things that are happening within our area,” NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Thurtell said.

Premier Berejiklian said it was “not just criminals” who would be targeted.

“The government also dragged Labor crook Eddie Obeid into court today to recoup some of the taxpayer money used in his defence,” she said.

Opposition leader Michael Daley said he was not convinced by the scheme.

“Let’s not forget that just a few years ago they lost a Premier and 10 or 11 MPs, I lost count,” he said.

Premier Berejiklian said it was only “a couple of ministers who are now in jail” who “continue to plague taxpayers in NSW.”