ALBURY Gold Cup racegoers and Murray River park users could be scrutinised by mobile security cameras under a plan being considered by Albury’s Mayor.

Amanda Duncan-Strelec said she was examining the possibility of the council spending some of its $350,000 earmarked for security cameras on mobile units to supplement those planned for the central business district.

She cited the example of Logan Council, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Cr Duncan-Strelec said Logan had portable cameras that could be attached to structures and moved between places vulnerable to crime and anti-social behaviour.

Logan also had a mobile camera based on a trailer, which could be transported to functions.

“We’re looking at the combination of mobiles and fixed, if appropriate,” Cr Duncan-Strelec said.

She said the cameras could target specific events, such as the Gold Cup and Australia Day.

Cr Duncan-Strelec said having this basic infrastructure meant that “when we require the camera in that area it can just be moved to there and the monitoring established from there”.

Cr Duncan-Strelec attended a major community safety and security conference in Sydney last month and heard presentations from other councils around Australia that have installed closed-circuit cameras.

She said a Dubbo Council representative told of the reduction of crime in that city because of cameras.

But it was also noted that because its control room was located in the local police station the footage had been ruled inadmissible for court cases because of the possibility of those with criminal records being targeted.

“I still believe that an appropriate place to install it would be in a police station, however I’m fast coming to the view that it would require a private security firm to monitor it,” Cr Duncan-Strelec said.

“They would have to be screened appropriately because you’ve also got to make sure that the people who do the security monitoring are subject to all the security checks.”

Cr Duncan-Strelec plans to travel to Dubbo and Yarra Ranges Shire on the north-eastern edge of Melbourne in the next two months to assess their security camera set-ups.

She said the number of cameras likely to be used in Albury had not been determined.

President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties Cameron Murphy said the use of footage in court would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

He cited Sydney Council as a model for cities introducing security cameras because it had an independent audit committe