Shire of Waroona vote against participation in Western Australia Police Force vGRID SaferCity Project

The Shire of Waroona council has voted not to support their participation in the Western Australian Police Force vGRID SaferCity Project. The decision was finalised during the council meeting on March 24, with the council voting in favour of the officer’s recommendation. As part of the program, participation would involve the installation of a secure vGRID Gateway device in the shire’s CCTV providing encrypted, outbound-only access for the WA Police to view the cameras via a secure browser in authorised incidents. Working directly with the shire’s CCTV provider as part of the program would be the WA Police and SaferCities, ensuring the shire’s cybersecurity framework is upheld and guarantee no impact to performance. If the shire had chosen to participate, it would have retained ownership and control of its CCTV network and determined which locations would be made accessible. Speaking on the council’s decision, shire president Mike Walmsley said there had still been some concerns around what signing for the program would entail. “Most councillors just felt that there wasn’t enough clarity around future risks or potential risks going forward,” he said. “It may come back as a different iteration in time regarding the SaferCities project but as this point in time, council didn’t feel they wish to support being a participant in it.” Cr Walmsley said the shire had a good relationship with the local police and their decision would not impact their ability to review footage if needed. The motion was carried 6-1, with Crs Larry Scott, Karlie Bartle, John Mason, Karen Odorisio, Julie Rowles, Brad Vitale voting in favour of the officer’s recommendation and Cr Walmsley voting against.