CCTV will be sent directly to the internet cloud in a WA first trial being conducted by police investigating Perth, Northbridge, North and West Perth crimes.
“The use of CCTV is going to increase as time progresses, so we need a way of obtaining that footage quickly and efficiently, and the public is right across this technology,” cloud crime co-ordinator Sergeant John Anagnostakis said.
Previously data sticks, CDs and copies of footage were physically collected by officers or dropped off by crime victims, wasting time and resources.
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READ NOWSgt Anagnostakis said businesses frequently hit by crime, such as tap-and-go credit card fraud at service stations, had become “sick and tired” of repeatedly being asked for data sticks of their recordings.
He said the sticks and discs, and their physical transport, had previously been needed because the courts had issues with the ability for transmitted data to be altered or corrupted, potentially affecting a case.
Having an officer collect the data fulfilled a requirement for “legal continuity”.
“We had a whole process of receipts, forms and officers going out to get data sticks,” Sgt Anagnostakis said.
There will now be four officers at a central hub operating a $15 monthly cloud account during the three-month trial.
The hub can take a terabyte of CCTV data from residents, businesses, shops and government departments.
“It will also be fast, because sometimes it took days and days to get this data,” Sgt Anagnostakis said.
Officers could get images from the footage sent to their mobile telephones, allowing them to look for a criminal sooner after an incident.
It is hoped in some cases images from crime could be available to officers within the day of a crime.
However, public sending footage to the cloud will have to download the player used by their CCTV.
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