Editor:
Re: White Rock eyes waterfront cameras, June 14.
I am not against any community deciding to implement any measures that will deter criminal activities and improve public safety.
I’m all for it.
I also have no issue at all with CCTV. The way I see it, anything to prevent crime is a good thing. And, as for “big brother,” I figure if I’m doing nothing wrong, who cares who’s watching me outside the walls of my own home?
Also, I’m not a resident of White Rock, so whatever happens in White Rock is ultimately for the people who live there to decide.
I would like to know, though, if the objective to installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) is to capture on film when “something happens one day” or to help deter existing crime on the pier and promenade?
Has there been a high incidence of crime specifically on the pier and promenade – versus any other area in White Rock – that warrants this focused attention?
I really wonder how current on today’s CCTV and public safety issues Coun. Al Campbell is, when he says that “they don’t have Michael Dunahees in England.”
What a ridiculous statement! Hasn’t Coun. Campbell read of the horrid case of Jamie Bulger – the toddler abducted in 1993 from a shopping centre in Liverpool who was then tortured and murdered?
And as for “we have so much going on in Canada, nobody gets caught,” what about last month’s trial relating to the monsters who abducted eight-year-old Tori Stafford from her school in Ontario, then sexually assaulted and murdered her?
The last Jamie Bulger and Tori Stafford were seen alive was on CCTV footage. And although the footage ultimately helped send the creatures who murdered them to jail, CCTV didn’t do much to deter these horrific events from happening in the first place.
And what about the Stanley Cup riots? Again, much of it was captured on CCTV, but it still happened.
Even if the goal is only to see what’s going on at the pier and on the promenade – does White Rock have the required resources to adequately monitor or review every minute of film as it happens or afterwards?
CCTV is prevalent in many countries today, but I’m not convinced it actually does much to increase public safety by deterring crime. Couldn’t something else be done now to actually prevent crime?
I encourage White Rock to conduct at least a literature review of the value of CCTV and associated costs as a first step to exploring what can be done for increased public safety.
I am sure there are other public-safety agencies that could provide current scientific information to help guide sound decision making. Here is a place to start.
H. Torrance, Surrey