Following a spate of negative incidents on Bahnhofplatz (the square outside the main railway station), Lucerne’s municipal government adopted a package of measures in 2008. It also approved an extension of the city’s public video surveillance, combined with measures in a areas such as policing, construction, social affairs and general cleaning. Also under camera surveillance are the city’s historic wooden bridges and most recently the Stadthaus. Securiton installed the entire video surveillance system and is responsible for its maintenance.

The Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) is one of the city’s landmarks. The Spreuerbrücke (Mill Bridge) is the town’s second covered wooden bridge and, like the Kapellbrücke, it too features a series of paintings. In 1993 the Kapellbrücke was almost entirely ravaged by fire. For this reason and to protect against fire and vandalism the two bridges were equipped with surveillance cameras after the renovation work. These installations now had to be renewed. For its part the Bahnhofplatz was often the scene of clashes and street crime. The Stadthaus is home to the municipal government and the city’s administration. The cameras at the Stadthaus and at Bahnhofplatz are intended to deter potential criminals and to facilitate prosecution in the event of any malfeasance.
Within a year a total of six indoor cameras, 20 micro-cameras and 22 cameras in weatherproof housings were installed and networked using fibre optic cables. At their operations centre the police is able to monitor and analyse the images as required, and intervene if necessary. The recordings are stored and then periodically and automatically overwritten for data protection reasons. Securiton is also contracted to service the cameras, optimise the database, and update the software.