New surveillance video of one of Toronto’s highest-revenue speed cameras being cut down has surfaced and could shed light on who may be behind the serial vandalism.
The Parkside Drive camera has issued more than 66,000 tickets and more than $7 million in fines since first being installed in 2022, but vandalism has regularly led to it being knocked out of service for weeks at a time.
Richard Penner told CTV News Toronto that he set up a trail camera near the site of the Automated Speed Enforcement device, which was installed in the city’s west end in 2022, after it was cut down for a fourth time in April.
Penner said he drives past the camera a few times a week and was happy to see it set up, as he’s seen a similar device successfully slow down traffic in his Bloordale neighbourhood.
“When I saw the speed camera cut down and set up and cut down again, my first reaction was, ‘I’m surprised the police aren’t doing more about this,’ but I also take the police at their word that they are very busy,” he said in an interview on Thursday. “But just as it only takes one person to cut down a speed camera…one person can also try to prevent it, in even a very small way.”
So he decided to install a small surveillance camera, affixed to a nearby tree, in May. Less than a week later, the camera was cut down a fifth time at approximately 2:20 a.m. on May 23.
In two short videos, recorded by default in short bursts to preserve battery, someone can be seen arriving at the Parkside Drive speed cam with a tool, potentially a reciprocating saw, and a small ladder.
“You do see him clearly with his tool in his hand and a ladder, and when the second clip starts, the camera is clearly on the ground and he’s climbing down,” Penner said.
The surveillance video’s timestamp shows the speed cam was handily felled in less than two minutes, as the suspect jumps off the ladder to the ground after finishing the job.
As to who’s behind the act, Penner has some theories.
“I think it’s probably a younger person,” he said, noting how the culprit jumps to the ground with ease. “And if I had to guess, it’s probably a loosely-organized collection of people that are cutting these cameras down.”
The speed camera was reinstalled, this time with an additional Toronto police surveillance camera, before it was chopped down again on July 9. The camera was then reinstalled on Aug. 10 following its latest repairs. At the time of writing, the camera is still standing. Penner said he did not reinstall his trail camera after its location was reported publicly.
Parkside Drive’s speed camera was introduced in 2021, after a driver travelling at more than double the speed limit (then 50 km/h before it was reduced to 40 km/h) rear-ended a vehicle that was stopped in traffic and killed its two elderly occupants.
In a statement to CTV News, police said their investigation into the vandalism of the Parkside Drive camera remains ongoing. It’s unclear if the police’s recently installed surveillance camera caught the most recent act of vandalism on July 9.
The City of Toronto says it is working with its vendor, which repairs and installs the cameras, and Toronto police to prevent future incidents of vandalism, including remote monitoring of the camera systems to identify and respond to vandalism incidents more quickly, stronger poles for permanent cameras and other measures.
With files from Jermaine Wilson
