Video Surveilance

About a month ago I came across an article in the Toronto sun titled
15 Street Cameras not enough, business leaders say. The article talked about how the city plans to install 15 surveillance cameras on city streets this spring. However local businesses want more of these “crime- fighting devices”. Starting April 30th two million dollars will be forked over for these surveillance cameras, which will be placed in areas such as The Entertainment District, the Jane-Finch area and northwest Scarborough. Toronto police believe that installing these cameras will help reduce the crime rate throughout the city. However in my opinion these cameras are taking away the essence of public spaces, I don’t believe that they will greatly benefit the city because they are only deterring crime from one particular area to another. Not only is video surveillance costly but as tax payers we are footing the bill. I view these cameras as an invasion of individual privacy and violation of our basic civil rights and liberties. Video surveillance also poses a threat to the destruction of community, people might tend to view areas of surveillance more as private space than public and we should also consider who gets to monitor these tapes what happens if an innocent person is caught in an unguarded moment, thus violating people’s privacy. I believe the city should focus on alternative methods to repel crime such as increasing community on the streets, instead of installing cameras. Other options should definitely be taken into consideration such as community policing, dealing with security by building and increasing community alliances. If more time was being invested to build community there would not be this need for cameras. People would be more willing to help out police to catch suspects and divulge information needed to prevent and stop crimes. Yet this is not being done, instead the police and people wanting these cameras are looking for an easy way out, but unfortunately I don’t see this as one.

Christine Misir