City to pay homeowners to install AI cams and share footage
The City of Melville is pondering big incentives to homeowners who agree to install AI cameras on their private property and share footage with city security officers.
A proposed home CCTV rebate program outlines that people who install security cameras that use AI to send automated alerts with live footage to the city's safety team would be eligible for the largest rebates.
'The CCTV Rebate Program is an innovative initiative aimed at encouraging homeowners to install CCTV systems and as part of an Australian-first trial initiative, integrate them with the city's community safety patrol service,' Melville mayor Katy Mair said.
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'If approved by council, participants who install eligible CCTV systems and join the partnership program would receive higher rebates to those installing CCTV systems without joining the program.
'The initiative would enable private CCTV systems to send real-time automated alerts from specific camera systems directly to the city's Community Safety Service Patrol team, dramatically reducing response times to suspicious behaviour.'
Support for the concept will be tested by community consultation before Melville council decides whether to push ahead with the wider CCTV rebate program.
Ms Mair said AI technology would automate surveillance tasks and instantly detect suspicious activities like graffitiing, which could assist in criminal investigations.
But she insisted there would be safeguards to respect privacy, given the footage would come from households and private land.
'A new AI system would continuously detect incidents in real-time and instantly alert patrols with actionable information, significantly improving response times,' she said.
'The city would not be able to access any other footage. The system ensures residents' privacy by only accessing footage sent to the city system as an alert.
'With AI, we would be shifting from reactive to proactive security, creating a safer, more secure and efficient Melville.'
Existing security camera owners with compatible systems would also be eligible to join, although the city said it was too soon to know which CCTV models would be suitable, how much residents would need to pay for their installation and the amount of the rebate payment being considered.
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