City under terror watch

MICHAEL OWEN
Adelaide Advertiser
Dec. 24, 2006

UNMANNED closed-circuit television camera spy planes and trucks with hidden cameras are among options canvassed in a top secret report into security coverage in Adelaide.

The report, considered by a top-level State Government and Adelaide City Council committee, is part of Premier Mike Rann's post-London bombing plan to improve CCTV coverage in the city centre. One Capital City Committee member, who wished to remain anonymous, said the report included options for "more coverage and different ways of surveillance, like trucks and unmanned planes and so on".

"It was an enormous report and the dollars being talked about to fund it was amazing," the committee member said. "You'd think we were terrorist target No. 1."

Police Minister Paul Holloway, one of the State Government's three representatives on the committee, said the Government would consider the recommendations contained in the report.

He said security was being boosted by a restructure of the Police Security Services branch, the introduction of Protective Security Officers and the installation of CCTV cameras across the public transport system.

"We have also introduced the Police Powers (Prevention and Response to Terrorism) Act, which gives the Police Commissioner, in concurrence with the Minister for Police, authorisation to use additional extraordinary powers for a defined period in the event of a terrorist incident or threat," he said.

Committee members were forced to hand back copies of the extensive report, after it was "flicked through" by chairwoman Jane Lomax-Smith, the Minister for the City of Adelaide.

"The report is quite amazing," the committee member said.

Mr Holloway said a meeting in London with Detective Inspector James Stokley, in charge of piecing together thousands of hours of CCTV footage after the London bombings, highlighted the importance of a high-quality CCTV network.