Street cameras a growing trend in Canada

Winnipeg is getting its first street camera with more to come. I believe Winnipeggers have mixed thoughts on these devices. Can a camera stop crime? Reduce it? Will it simply move one block over?

Will we be better off with them or without them? Are our privacy rights being trampled? Or should we have any expectation to privacy in public.

Where street cameras are concerned I say to hell with privacy rights, they are there for our own good. The camera being installed at Air Canada Park will in my opinion make a big difference in and around Portage Place. The camera at Henry and Main could have been put in a better location...what are you gonna catch on camera at Henry, someone taking a whiz against the wall?

Ahhh, there is a good question... Where should the cameras be mounted?

I like the approach that Winnipeg is doing. Dont monitor the cameras, but use them as evidence if a crime was committed in the area. And perhaps having them mounted might stop some crimes from happening in the first place? Kind of skeptical about that one myself, but it will have the effect of helping to put criminals in jail.. and while in jail they are not nearly as likely to be committing crimes on the street.

grumpy old man wrote:Ahhh, there is a good question... Where should the cameras be mounted?

Good question.
If they mount one in AC Park, I'll have to find a new place to buy my drugs...or maybe I'll just not wear my beret as a disguise.

Privacy while out in public places is bullcrap! Cameras recording the perps on every street in Wpg, is a good idea to get criminals off the street after the fact.
There are no complaints regarding their effectiveness in sending criminals to jail for their crimes!
We see cameras taking pictures in convenience stores being robbed, we see a policeman accosting an order taker at a KFC, we see allsorts of illegal acts. In Great Britain their system is so good, that they can identify criminals and trouble makers, and follow them from pub to pub, preventing them from being allowed into other pubs, because they are drunk and a warning has been phoned ahead. Now that is surveillance.
JTF- I have asked Mayor Sam to stop surveillance for anyone over 50 years , and wearing a beret! he seems to think that the over 50 is agreat idea, but not too sure of the beret thing!

I'll dress in camo, so no one will see me.

In britain their cameras are so good that several local councils are going broke trying to pay for the monitoring. Such that many now dont even monitor them or bother to review the tapes unless it was a severe crime...

JTF wrote:I'll dress in camo, so no one will see me.

meh..camo sticks out like a sore thumb.. go naked you wont get arrested for drug purchases for sure.

Whatta' ya' mean camo sticks out like a sore thumb? I went to buy some but couldn't find any.

i don't think monitoring is all too important, as I believe that a record at a crime scene is more important!
I cannot imagine the common sense in monitoring, because of the boring and costs involved in keeping an eye out for 99% of nothing!
The cameras are for a record, similar to an ABM cash machine that takes a single picture of evertyone who uses the machine.

I thought the ABM machines were 100% video now? and are always running all the time to also record everything else going on around the machine?

Most surveillance video records on motion. There is now way in heavon any DVR could record 24/7/365 without 18,098,625 GB drives...

Typically there is a protocol that says keep X days worth of recorded video then overwrite. Perhaps the ATMs record video but keeps a permanent single image of the person making the transaction. That makes sense.

eastsider wrote:Where street cameras are concerned I say to hell with privacy rights, they are there for our own good. The camera being installed at Air Canada Park will in my opinion make a big difference in and around Portage Place. The camera at Henry and Main could have been put in a better location...what are you gonna catch on camera at Henry, someone taking a whiz against the wall?

I agree 100% with eastsider. The camera at Portage Place is good news. Maybe they can add some more cameras around the downtown core. I think it would reduce crime, and make it more enticing for suburbanites to come downtown. If it were upto me, I would add cameras at the following locations:

• The MTS Centre overlooking Portage Place
  
• The corner of Broadway and Osborne
  
• The corner of St,Marys Ave and Portage
  
• Main Street and Broadway
  
• Central Park
  
• The Bay (overlooking Vaughan and Graham)
  

Central Park is slated to get three cameras. I drove by there yesterday. It is such a beautiful area. Gotta clean that area up. Perhaps the cameras will held drive away the scum and criminal element.

St. Mary's and Portage? Did you mean St. Mary and Portage? Near the U of W?

grumpy old man wrote:

St. Mary's and Portage? Did you mean St. Mary and Portage? Near the U of W?

yes.

Maybe they will place the cameras where there is a high crime rate?
Do you think anyone thought of that ?

Camara records 5 days and is overwriten unless stopped by the police , as they are the only ones who control them .

i would rather see more police or downtown watch or some type of law enforcement on the street doing patrols, whether by car or foot or bike or whatever. The presence of a camera will not deter a criminal who has made the decision to commit a crime, but the presence of a police officer nearby sure will. and most criminals wont bother to inform themselves of where these cameras are located anyways, so its not much of a deterrent.

As for using the video to catch the criminals, i dont think people realize that most criminals are caught by police already with the technology and methods they are using right now. Having some cameras around wont make much of a difference.

There are many instances of peeps caught on video used to both identify and prosecute them. I'm also aware of many situations where just the mere presence of a camera has stopped years of vandalism. Even if the bad guy does not change his ways if we can find and prosecute him then I'm for it.

I think BOTH police presence and cameras combined are required. Ultimately though prosecution with real penalties are required.

grumpy old man wrote:
Ultimately though prosecution with real penalties are required.

amen to that

Yes more foot patrols are still needed same with bikes.