Petition for video surveillance around Giubiasco station

A petition is calling for surveillance cameras to be installed in the public spaces around Giubiasco station. The initiative was launched by municipal councillor Maura Mossi Nembrini and has gathered signatures in support of the request.

The text asks the municipal executive for concrete action in response to the decline reported in the area. Video surveillance is put forward as one of the measures to increase safety around the site.

A transit hub with heavy footfall

The petition describes the station as one of the canton's main rail hubs, with local and regional connections as well as services towards Italy.

On working days around 5,500 people use the station. They include students, workers and commuters, but also families, older people, tourists and international travellers.

The request is prompted by criminal incidents recorded recently in the Bellinzona area. Several thefts had already been reported in the neighbourhood.

The question now put to the municipal executive concerns the choice of tools. Cameras act above all on reconstructing events after they have happened, while any preventive effect depends on how the system combines with a staff presence on site and with the upkeep of the spaces.

A second aspect concerns responsibilities. A station area includes both municipal and railway land, and decisions on installations must take that division into account as well as data protection rules.

The figure of 5,500 daily journeys also indicates how many people would be filmed. A decision on cameras in a space of this kind therefore concerns everyone passing through, not only those committing the reported offences.

The petition gives neither the cost of installation nor who would store and view the footage. These are points the municipal executive would have to settle if it decides to act on the request.

The petition brings the question before the municipal authorities. Their answer will show whether it is taken up, and in what form.