Premier Doug Ford says he is looking to expand the use of surveillance cameras in municipalities across the province to help catch suspects in car thefts and home invasions, but he is providing few details about exactly how such an initiative would work.
Ford made the comments at an unrelated transit news conference in Hamilton on Monday morning.
“I was asking the mayor (of Hamilton) about crime as well because I want to start introducing cameras on crime, if approved by residents,” Ford said.
“The home invasions, certain areas around Ontario are just getting hammered, (including) York Region, certain parts of Etobicoke, Peel Region, and up in Halton as well, Durham.”
Ford said he got the idea after a meeting with Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca over the weekend.
“When we had a fund, I think it was about a $2 million fund, and a few of towns had picked up on it, and he was one of them,” Ford said.
“What these cameras do, they pick up a licence plate and a stolen car gets immediately reported to the police, the local police.”
The fund Ford was referring to is a grant for close circuit television cameras (CCTV) that allows OPP detachments and local police services to set up CCTV cameras, with the province covering half of the cost to a maximum of $300,000 per year.
The Toronto Police Service does deploy CCTV in some public areas but requires that the footage be overwritten every 72 hours, unless deemed “of an evidentiary” nature.
Ford’s office did not provide specifics on what cameras would be used or how the program would work.
“We are working with municipalities, which includes looking at the potential to expand programs like CCTV, or work with them on existing infrastructure to crack down on violent crimes likes car thefts, homes invasions to keep our communities safe,” Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for the premier’s office, said.
Ford’s comments come less than a week after he vowed to remove speed cameras from streets in municipalities across Ontario, labelling them a “tax grab.”
Ford’s office did not respond directly to a question about whether the province would consider repurposing speed cameras as part of the program.
“We are very early in that process, and those conversations will drive the options moving forward.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Ford said residents in his own Etobicoke neighbourhood are interested in installing cameras for community safety.
“I had the conversation, it was an impromptu meeting, with our community, about 60, 70 people came out. There has been four home invasions in just our small community over the last 10 days,” the premier noted, saying that it appears residents in his neighbourhood want the cameras “like yesterday.”
“If you don’t want cameras for security reasons, I know a lot of people have home cameras as well, then we won’t put it in. We will only put those cameras in if the city or the town wants it in and then the community has to give a green light as well,” he said. “But I think they are superb.”
Ford said according to Del Duca, the cameras cost about $15,000 each.
The premier added that on Sunday, he visited a family that was recently the victim of an armed home invasion.
“It traumatizes people. I can’t even begin to tell you how traumatized people are when they get their house broken in by four masked men with a gun, pointing it to their heads. You have PTSD. Like you can’t think. People want to move out of their homes,” Ford said.
“We have to clean up the streets. Like big time.”
