Ipswich City Council

Safe City Program

The Ipswich Safe City program commenced in 1994 to deal with unacceptable levels of crime in Ipswich Central. The program has since been expanded with the camera network installed into nine suburbs to date with further expansions proposed in the coming years.

The two primary aims of the Ipswich Safe City program are:

To confront and address unacceptable levels of crime and violence by involving community members in the development of strategies, networks and committees; and
To create and expand on opportunities for all people to live, work socialise and play in Ipswich without feeling harassed or threatened.

The Ipswich City Council Safe City Monitoring Facility is situated within the CBD and operates 7 days per week, 24 hours per day. The facility monitors over 180 cameras across the Ipswich Region. The facility has direct contact with the Police via radio and at the Police Operations room in addition to coordinating with security companies.

Additionally, the monitoring facility has contact with a range of other services in Ipswich to assist in addressing strategies for community safety and policing.

As a result of the integrated approach to crime, the Program:

Co-ordinates Police responses and emergency services to areas (within camera coverage) where an emergency response is required. This service is provided 24 hours a day;
Reduces crime through proactive community involvement and awareness through an advisory service that assists businesses in Ipswich, Goodna, Redbank, Booval, Bundamba, Brassall and Rosewood to implement crime prevention initiatives within their business or precinct;
Prevents many crimes from being committed. Safe City monitoring often detects incidents that are about to occur and responds by transmitting the actual image to the Ipswich Police radio room direct for a prompt response by Police;
Provides information and evidence to the Police, Liquor Licensing Division, Department of Family Services, Justice Department and various community crime prevention groups; and
Identifies and locates missing persons, wanted persons and locates numerous missing children (mainly in Ipswich Central).

The Success of Security Cameras

Ipswich City Council has been visited by law enforcement agencies from the Netherlands, Taiwan and Great Britain to inspect our camera monitoring system.

Police from three states in Australia and approximately twenty-five local authorities from across Australia have visited the Ipswich Monitoring Facility. The Safe City facility has been recognised as the benchmark for a fully integrated crime prevention program that is not solely reliant on cameras and utilises a co-ordinated approach of all agencies in Ipswich.

In addition, there is continued attention to and implementation of Crime Prevention through the Environmental Design methodologies.

Who to Contact?

In life threatening situations contact 000, if an offence has been committed or is about to be committed contact Police first, phone (07) 3437 2777, and advise the following:

location of incident
description of offenders
direction seen
what assistance you may require from the Safe City operators via the surveillance cameras

Police will then advise Safe City.

Remember, no matter how trivial your information may seem, please pass it on, as it may assist us in providing valuable information to Police.

Last Updated 12 Aug 2011 |

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