Marburg’s focus on community safety
28 September 2023
Community safety is in closer focus in Marburg township following Queensland Police Service and community member requests for support from Ipswich City Council.
Council has temporarily installed two safety cameras at the main intersection in town, Queen and Edmond streets, following the request from Marburg Police Station.
“Individual community members have regularly asked if safety cameras could be installed in Ipswich,” Deputy Mayor and Division 4 Councillor Russell Milligan said.
Marburg Police also recently reached out to see if council could help with camera coverage following some recent anti-social behaviour.
“We have a strong working relationship with Marburg Police, and council’s Safe City and Asset Protection team were able to provide assistance.”
After discussion with police, council has arranged for the temporary installation of two solar-powered cameras that provide coverage of the intersection and a short distance along both streets. One camera provides fixed coverage of the intersection, with the other able to capture images through 360 degrees. The cameras record 24 hours a day.
The cameras are not part of council’s formal Safe City network of more than 300 public-safety cameras, which are monitored from a central location around the clock.
“Safe City staff can, however, access the cameras and their recordings, and provide footage to support any police investigation,” Deputy Mayor Milligan said.
“The cameras will be in place for about six months.”
Division 4 Councillor Kate Kunzelmann said the cameras were already proving effective since being installed last fortnight, with police requesting footage of one incident since their installation.
“Safe City supervised the installation of the cameras, to make sure they complied with Queensland privacy laws,’’ Cr Kunzelmann said.
“Any request to provide footage is also considered against Safe City processes and privacy requirements.
“The cameras are not only about capturing incidents – their presence in other areas has also been a deterrent to incidents taking place in the first place.”
Marburg Police Station Officer in Charge Sergeant Anthony Garland said the installation was a good example of council and the Queensland Police Service working together to support community safety.
“Marburg is generally a pretty quiet town, with police very much part of this community,” Sergeant Garland said.
“We are pleased that council has been able to arrange for this installation on a temporary basis. If needed, we would approach council to provide footage to either support investigations or prosecutions.”
While the cameras are not part of the Safe City network, the approach in Marburg reflects the success of the broader collaboration. On average Safe City operators contact police 5,000 times a year, providing valuable information.
Over the past five years, Safe City has assisted police on 7,000 occasions and reviewed video for the Queensland Police Service over 2,500 times, resulting in 1,300 pieces of video being released for investigation and prosecution purposes.