Inspector Dave Simpson talks about benefits of monitoring CCTV for the community.

Police will have eyes in more places as part of a plan to prevent crime through monitoring CCTV footage.

Work is on going at Manukau police station's District Command Centre to feed in more pictures from CCTV cameras across East and South Auckland.

Centre manager Inspector Dave Simpson says police are working with organisations that have cameras in public spaces.

Jarred Williamson District Command Centre manager Inspector Dave Simpson in front of the centre's monitors.

"It's pretty common now to see CCTV in a lot of places," he says.

"So people have to realise if you're going to commit an offence it's more than likely going to be caught on camera."

Police are only accessing existing cameras, not investing in creating its own network to watch people, Simpson says.

Jarred Williamson Two youths were caught on camera fighting and vandalising property in a car park. Police attended not long after.

It is only after a memorandum of understanding is signed with the camera owner that police can access it.

CCTV coordinator Senior Constable Nick Conway says there are close to 700 cameras that can be accessed.

So far those cameras come from Auckland Council, Auckland Transport and business associations.

Jarred Williamson Senior Constable Nick Conway and CPNZ Howick-Pakuranga Volunteer Francis Silke monitor CCTV feeds inside Counties Manukau Police's District Command Centre.

That access has proved useful in catching offenders vandalising or committing offences at train stations, Conway says.

He works alongside community volunteers who work shifts to monitor cameras.

Volunteers, primarily from Community Patrols New Zealand, are being trained to monitor and operate some of the cameras.

CCTV is not the only function of the command centre.

Simpson also keeps track of every police vehicle active across the policing district.

He says the use of CCTV can also help in efforts to distribute resources where they are needed.

But Simpson says the responsibility for dispatching police units remains with northern communications.

The senior sergeant on duty will alert northern communications to any incidents for front line units to attend, he says.

Simpson says the strategy will not result in an extensive camera network like there is in London.

"The difference there is that London has quite a dense population and everything is much closer together.

"There you can monitor a person for a period of time, jumping between cameras down a street, whereas here things are further apart and there may not be a camera where someone moves to."

A police spokeswoman says all 12 policing districts nationwide have a District Command Centre.

But not all districts are pursuing the plan to monitor CCTV cameras like Counties Manukau.

EXPANDING CAMERA ACCESS

Police are also working to expand the types of locations they can monitor.

Access to Middlemore Hospital's CCTV network is a possibility Counties Manukau Health's director of hospital services Phillip Balmer noted in a committee meeting agenda.

He told stuff.co.nz the move would only allow "access to selective cameras and digital video recordings" and it is part of a wider security strategy.

The South Auckland hospital has more police callouts than any other in New Zealand, Balmer told the hospital advisory committee in May.

Hospital car parks and surrounding areas have been known to have problems with car crime.

"There's been a lot of work by the security team," he says.

Police Inspector Dave Simpson says discussions about access are continuing with the district health board.

Other areas that could be monitored in the future include petrol stations and shopping centres.