Police to get extra `eyes'

By Tim Lai
Toronto Star
Oct. 07, 2006

Smile, you're on police cameras.

Come next April, Toronto police will install 15 highly visible closed-circuit cameras in two of the city's most crime-ridden areas in hopes of deterring unlawful activity.

The Toronto Police Services Board yesterday gave the force approval to accept $2 million from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services for a pilot project that will run until 2008.

Officials already have met with community members from 31 and 42 Divisions about installing the cameras in their backyards. The areas of Jane-Finch and Malvern are within these divisions — 31 Division borders Steeles Ave., Humber River, the CN line and Lawrence Ave., while 42 Division lies within Steeles Ave., Victoria Park Ave., Highway 401 and Pickering town line.

"Our intent with these cameras is not to detect criminal activity, but rather to deter criminal activity," Chief Bill Blair said. The cameras will not replace officers on the streets, but will be another tool to prevent and fight crime, he said. Signs will raise their public visibility.

"The deployment of the cameras in and of themselves may deter crime, as has been suggested in research documents from the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions," Blair wrote in a report to the board.

He said the cameras would observe public spaces and not target individuals, just as they were used this year during Caribana and Taste of the Danforth.

But officers conceded the cameras don't always deter crimes.

"Those cameras were there, but that didn't stop the shooting" of 21-year-old Dwayne Taylor in Dundas Square last summer, said Deputy Chief Kim Derry. "But what it did do is capture it in video, and now that's in court and we can see the real incident take place."

Cameras will retain footage for 72 hours, if it's not viewed, before the system begins overwriting itself. The cameras won't be permanently fixed and can be moved to other spots as needed.

In response to board member Hamlin Grange's "big brother" concerns, Blair said the pilot project will fall in line with privacy laws. He pointed out that such cameras are already present in malls, banks and gas stations.

Grange also wanted the force to survey the community's level of trust in the police through such a program.

"Trust is a really important piece of policing in this city — we know that especially with certain communities," Grange said. "Every community wants to be safe, whether you're in Rosedale or Jane-Finch."

A draft policy will be presented at the next board meeting on Oct. 19.