The Star: January 20, 2022

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The Star Thursday January 20 2022 4 NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz CCTV cameras: ‘The only people who should Renee Sainey Duckmanton Marong After killing her, he drives around, unsure what to do. The next day, he’s seen at 6.46pm driving into the forecourt of the Mobil service station in Rakaia, off State Highway One. He fills up and goes in to pay, giving the attendant a thumbs-up before making to leave. Then he hesitates, apparently paying more money before leaving for good. Duckmanton’s burning body was found by passing motorists around 45min later on nearby Main Rakaia Rd, just off SH1. There was a blue beanie at the scene. Hours of sifting through older CCTV reveals the killer wearing it a few weeks earlier. Marong, who would argue all sorts of weird and wonderful things during his extremely unsuccessful defence, could not explain away the CCTV. It was there, mostly in black and white, but at times, in full colour. His DNA matched evidence collected at the scene. He was jailed for life. CCTV FOOTAGE: The last image of Renee Duckmanton was taken from a security camera on a private residence. Marong was seen at a service station the night he dumped his victim’s body. The footage helped convict him before a jury. CCTV is on the rise in New Zealand. As one security operator put it: “The only people who should worry about that is bad guys doing bad things, and who cares if they’re worried?” New Zealand Herald investigations suggest an estimated 400,000 security cameras across the country. With a population of almost 5.1 million, that’s around one camera for every 12.7 people. Globally, that’s a drop in the ocean – especially when compared to Chinese supercities or super-surveilled London. The number’s rising though. And it doesn’t include cellphones (it’s estimated there are more phones than people), dashboard cameras, laptops, webcams, etc. “It’s pretty clear that cameras are rapidly proliferating,” says NZ Council for Civil Liberties chairman Thomas Beagle. “Have you ever tried counting up how many cameras are in your house? With the rise of surveillance cameras and smartphones we now clearly have more than one camera per person in New Zealand.” Neither police nor the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service have any idea how many cameras there are. So how did we reach our 400,000 estimate? New Zealand Security Association chief executive Gary Morrison believes that, based on five years of data from international manufacturers, there are around 200,000 imported surveillance cameras in New Zealand. That figure includes cameras installed at residential, commercial and government sites, but he accepts it’s “probably higher” given the large number of home systems sold by DIY giants retailers like Bunnings and Mitre 10. Bunnings says interest in its range of smart security cameras and accessories, which cost from $59 to $1200, has grown “significantly” in the last 12 months. “Covid has contributed to an already heightened demand,” a spokeswoman says. We also fed in data obtained through dozens of requests under the Official Information Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. They reveal around 10,000 cameras across New Zealand’s 78 local, regional and unitary councils. The Christchurch City Council has 1253, while Auckland Council has 2035. Most local authorities have several hundred, spread across community centres, civic offices, galleries, libraries, recreation centres and parks. And that doesn’t take into account transport hubs, buses, trains, and ferries. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has 1606, as well as 179 webcams across its national network. KiwiRail has another 1022 across its depots, worksites and network, with 193 on the Interislander ferries. Government departments are also well-watched. The Ministry for Social Development, for example, has 3521 cameras. The Ministry of Justice has 3159, Corrections uses 1800 at “non-custodial sites”, Kaianga Ora another 900, and Customs 482 across five international airports and the Auckland sea cargo inspection facility.
Thursday January 20 2022 The Star Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz worry about that is bad guys’ It soon adds up, especially when you add in shops, bars, restaurants and banks. Z petrol station reckons it has around 2000 cameras, while BP has cameras in every one of its 111 BP Connect sites and 101 BP New Zealand dealer sites. Westpac, which calls CCTV “a strong and effective tool for keeping our customers and employees safe”, has multiple cameras in every one of its 115 branches, plus cameras on most of its 459 ATMs. Countdown has 185 stores nationwide and cameras everywhere. McDonald’s has 168 restaurants across New Zealand, with a spokesman saying a “typical” outlet would have around 20 public-facing CCTV cameras – amounting to around 3360. Not to mention KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Starbucks ... For the Council for Civil Liberties, the worry is the creation of a surveillance society where people are videoed and tracked wherever they go. “The presence of the cameras means that people feel the pressure to ‘act normally’, which is a chilling effect on their freedom to live their lives,” Beagle says. Police say Crime Prevention CCTV networks help reduce and solve crime and disorder, along with helping the public feel safe. While police don’t have many of their own cameras, they have strong partnerships, especially with local authorities, and can tap into their footage to “support the identification of suspects and gathering of evidence from CCTV footage within our community that is owned by community groups, individuals and businesses should they agree”. Beagle is also concerned about what happens to the captured footage. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner says anyone can ask for any personal information “which is about you”, regardless of the format – whether it’s a video, photo, note, email, meeting minutes, audio recording or anything else. The Privacy Act says if an organisation holds personal information in a way that it can be readily retrieved, it should confirm to the person asking for the information that it holds that information and give the person access to the information. “The key thing to consider is whether the information is actually about you,” the Privacy Commissioner says. Technology is improving too. Gone are the days of the grainy black-and-white police image. Even the cheapest off-the-shelf cameras now deliver highdefinition footage. Facial recognition camera technology is also becoming a popular, if not controversial, sphere. The practice allows the tracking of people from camera to camera - building up a history of where they go and what they do. Held up as a useful tool for law enforcement and businesses, in catching criminals, it’s also criticised as being a fundamental threat to a free and open society. In 2019, a private operator of the King’s Cross train station in London deployed facial recognition in its CCTV network without telling anybody. After a public outcry, and a probe by the Information Commissioner’s Office, the programme was scrapped. Legislation is struggling to catch up. Some US cities have banned the use of facial recognition technology, but in Singapore it’s being woven into everyday life. New Zealand needs to be careful in how it proceeds, Beagle warns. “It’s one thing to capture footage of people, it’s another to use techniques like facial recognition to identify the people,” he says. “We find that this is an unreasonable invasion of people’s privacy and the right to be anonymous in public.” – NZ Herald NEWS 5 Government adviser back in court • By Anna Leask A GOVERNMENT communications adviser is before the courts after an alleged attack at a Merivale bar on Christmas Eve where he cut another man’s ear with a glass. Joel Ineson is due to appear in the district court today on a charge of wounding with intent after the alleged assault last month at Aikmans bar. He is currently employed as a communications adviser for Kainga Ora, formerly Housing New Zealand. Before that role Ineson worked as a journalist in Christchurch. He appeared in court soon after the attack on the wounding charge. He was not granted name suppression. A charge of wounding with intent carries a maximum term of imprisonment of seven years. Police confirmed they were called to the bar at 10.15pm on the night of the alleged attack. “A 30-year-old Christchurch man was arrested at the scene and subsequently charged with wounding with intent to injure/ reckless disregard and is due to appear in court again on January 20,” said a spokesperson. – NZ Herald Te Wiki Tūhura Discover how to get the skills you need for the job you want. 27 January to 3 February For details visit ara.ac.nz
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