Twelve closed-circuit television (CCTV) are being recommended for the downtown core as a “cost-effective and reasonable response to crime.”
A city staff report going to Peterborough city council on Monday recommends council endorse a proposal by the Peterborough Police Service to install a dozen CCTV cameras which are being funded by a $185,000 grant from the Ontario CCTV Grant Program which the province announced in September 2022.
The service’s report says the “Community Safety CCTV Program” will initially focus on the downtown where “crime and anti-social behaviour have been identified as being higher than other areas in the city.”
The initial area of installation will be along intersections along George Street and Aylmer Streets which have been identified by the service’s crime analysts as “high-priority locations.”
“Many citizens feel unsafe in downtown Peterborough at night, (54%) as evidenced by the Fleming Data Research,” the service’s report states. “These people look to the police to explore various strategies to reduce crime.”
The service’s report notes the downtown has more than 2,000 residents and 5,000 people working in the core. There are over 60 bars and restaurants in the area and six “night clubs” that have a combined seating capacity of thousands.
In October 2022, a consultation was held with the Downtown Business Improvement Area and stakeholders to determine priority locations for the initial camera installations.
“While these bars and restaurants are significant contributors to our local economy there are also some attendant issues,” the service states.
“Over the last two decades, several initiatives have been implemented to address the significant amount of anti-social behaviour in the downtown core. While many of these initiatives have had some positive effects the trend has not changed over the last several years and continues despite the initiatives that have been previously implemented.”
The service says the use of CCTV cameras has proven to be a successful crime-prevention tool by other Ontario police services including most recently in Cobourg, Cornwall, and Belleville. CCTV cameras have been in use in Sudbury (1996), London (2000), and Toronto (2007).”These programs have proven to be highly successful in deterring crime, reducing victimization and assisting in solving serious crimes,” the service states.
The report, penned by members of the Peterborough Police Services board and IT manager Paul Notman, note the cameras are not a replacement for the “physical presence of police officers” in neighbourhoods or any other community-based policing strategies. The CCTV system aims to help reduce the amount of time to required to solve a serious crime.
The cameras also won’t be actively monitored.
“A well-designed and operated CCTV system in downtown Peterborough is not a solution to all criminal and antisocial behaviour issues,” the report states. “It is, however, a cost effective and reasonable response to crime in the downtown core.
“In the last several years there have been many high-profile crimes committed in the downtown core that may have been solved sooner and more cost effectively if CCTV had been in place. These crimes include homicide, sexual assaults, robberies, assaults and mischief to property. Research shows that people are willing to support the appropriate deployment of CCTV as an additional policing tool, provided reasonable efforts are made to mitigate any privacy impacts.”
City council is asked to endorse the proposal and make some “minor revisions” to its existing policy for the use of CCTV cameras to allow the police to adopt the cameras for its program.
The report estimates the cameras will cost between $25 to 60 a month, depending on usage, per site — or approximately $8,640 annually.
The report said the cost “may be recouped through grants or possibly other avenues of funding.”