Police To Put Up 15 Security Cameras By April
Posted January 30, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A holiday experiment is making a return to the streets of downtown Toronto.
For three weeks spanning the end of December and into January, the Toronto Police Service tried out closed circuit cameras at three downtown intersections. The cameras were intended to monitor the sometimes-troubled areas on Yonge Street for a variety of crimes as well as traffic infractions.
The eyes in the sky were taken down by the second week of January, but now they’ll be making a return after $2 million was doled out to put 15 cameras up in various troubled areas.
“We’re in the process of purchasing the 15 cameras,” confirms S upt. Jeff McGuire. “But where we decide where the cameras will go will be based on analysis of crime in the neighbourhoods.”
A community discussion on the topic was held at City Hall Tuesday, giving citizens a chance to voice concerns and get answers to questions regarding the expansion of the anti-violence program.
The idea for cameras initially sprung up after the infamous shootout on Boxing Day 2005 that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba.
The pilot project was run in the same area as the Creba shooting, and the plan for 2007 is to put up two more in the Malvern and Jane and Finch communities.
Mayor David Miller has said he will support the project if the communities they’re affecting feel positively about it.
“You’ve got to balance privacy and public safety. As these pilot projects come forward the neighbourhoods have to be supportive. From my perspective, if neighbourhoods are supportive, we can give it a try,” he said.
Sign up for a del.icio.us account here to save your bookmarks for free online.
