Queensland Rail has partnered with the Queensland Police Service to boost security on the rail network and enabled remote access to 7000 rail station based CCTV cameras at Police Headquarters. Minister for Transport, Stirling Hinchliffe, and Police Minister, Bill Byrne, welcomed the partnership and said it would give the Queensland Police Service access to Queensland Rail’s extensive CCTV network in real-time at the Police Communications Centre and improve responses to anti-social behaviour on the rail network.
“New remote CCTV access will enhance safety and security on our rail network, by providing vital real-time CCTV access for our Police to monitor and respond,” Mr Byrne said. “Police will now be able to log into station based cameras monitoring an incident on the rail network and coordinate their response appropriately, improving the current process of Queensland Rail security monitoring officers providing information verbally. “It makes sense for Police to have instant access to the eyes and ears provided by Queensland Rail’s cameras and will ensure they are able to better respond to incidents.
“This is a powerful new tool targeting anti-social behaviour, allowing Police to monitor and react to incidents from crime through to crowd control and other issues surrounding big events like RiverFire or New Year’s Eve.” Mr Hinchliffe said new remote access for Police is in addition to Queensland Rail’s new ‘Intelligent Media Wall’ unveiled at the $40 million Rail Management Centre opened earlier this year.
“Police access to real-time CCTV will complement the new media wall located at the Queensland Rail Management Centre, which is more than triple the size of the previous one,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
“A security monitoring team at Queensland Rail are now able to better monitor CCTV, with technological enhancements which improve detection and response to crime on the network. “Queensland Rail’s commitment to safety has delivered excellent results, with the number of serious weapon based offences on the South East Queensland rail network dropping by half over the past two years.” Mr Hinchliffe said technology advancements are in addition to eight new police officers as part of the dedicated Police Railway Squad, as well as six new Authorised Officers operating on the South East Queensland rail network.
