Cameras keep a focus on crime

By Tania Martin
VANDALS could soon star in their own home movies.
This comes as 14 new closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were installed in the heart of Mt Evelyn last week.
Shire of Yarra Ranges mayor Tim Heenan said it was fantastic to finally see the cameras up and running.
Cr Heenan and Casey MP Tony Smith last Tuesday met with local police as they switched on the cameras for the first time.
The $110,000 project was made possible by joint cash injections from the former Liberal Federal Government ($81,450), Mt Evelyn Traders Association ($18,550) and the council ($10,000).
Mr Smith said the cameras would help decrease crime, anti-social behaviour, drinking in the streets and property damage.
“In neighbouring towns like Lilydale, the installation of these CCTV cameras has led to a 70 per cent reduction in crime in the area over a one year period,” he said.
Cr Heenan said the community had been waiting for the cameras for more than a year and a half.
He said now the cameras were up and running, Mt Evelyn would be a better place to live in with the instances of vandalism related crime expected to dramatically fall.
“We can now catch these youths in the act and charge them,” Cr Heenan said.
The cameras around the central business district will feed directly to the town’s police station.