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Warkworth Police and Stihl Shop owner Mike Bremner are looking to make the town CCTV secure, following break-ins at two commercial premises last month.
At about 4am on August 27 both the Stihl Shop and Noel Leeming in Warkworth were broken into.
Six chainsaws worth over $8000 were taken from the Stihl Shop, and 20 laptops and two drones were taken from Noel Leeming. All stolen property was recovered and two men from the Waikato were apprehended after they lost control of their getaway vehicle in Albany.
Mike says they were lucky a neighbour got a vehicle description quickly for police but wants a camera set up on Whitaker Road in case they are not so fortunate next time.
Warkworth Police Sergeant Mark Stallworthy says a camera in this location would help to complete surveillance coverage of Warkworth.
“Whitaker Road is a corridor for any offenders looking to escape to the south. Having a camera there would really help, as most break-ins are done by people from outside the area,” he says.
“Footage gives us the ability to crack down on criminals quickly. If we can do that, it will deter them from coming here as they know Warkworth is a hard target.”
Helping to give police complete coverage of the area is Insite Security.
In the last two months, Matakana, Sandspit, Omaha and Warkworth have all had camera installations and upgrades. More cameras are on the way for Snells Beach.
One camera in Sandspit, three in Matakana and three in Warkworth have all been upgraded to improve night vision and recognise number plates.
Insite Security manages the cameras and owner Chris Martin says the new technology is a big advantage.
“Before we could only see car plates from one lane, but the new cameras have dual lane recognition,” he says.
“We’ve been a long-term customer for Atlas Geotech. They came on board and did the $10,000 Warkworth upgrades for free.”
Chris says the cameras have been used to solve numerous crimes already and will be even more effective with the changes.
“The cameras at Sandspit and Omaha are particularly good as those places are one way in and out.
We’re guaranteed to get footage of offenders that come into the area.”
There are 16 cameras located around Warkworth that are managed by Insite.
