Magic camera in Strathfield Station underpass that catches graffiti vandals

It has been a running sore for travellers, police and council workers for years – thanks to graffiti vandals, who find its long concrete walls irresistible.

At one point there was so much graffiti art in the Strathfield station underpass it was hoped spray painters would be deterred. They weren’t.

Now State MP Charles Casuscelli, who has worked with Strathfield and Burwood councils and Sydney Trains to give Strathfield station a fresh face, is hoping to persuade the Federal Government to back the use of a security camera that can catch the illegal painters at work. Normally, unmanned security cameras don’t record when a subject is stationary.

But the versions Mr Casuscelli is proposing are used by casino operators and designed to detect and film very small movements – such as a graffiti artist at work.

He has written to Reid MP Craig Laundy requesting  $40,000 in federal funding for a trial project. 

Mr Casuscelli has looked into a Homebush company that deals with high-profile clients from all around the world.

The owner of the company, who did not want to be named, said the cameras can even detect objects as small as knives. “These cameras can hopefully pick up people who may be urinating in the underpass or pick up a perpetrator who may be assaulting someone,” said Mr Casuscelli.

“It’s a filthy underpass and commuters don’t feel safe. They need these cameras and they will hopefully pick up any criminal activity.”