On the back burner for now
Arrival of traffic cameras delayed in Charlottetown as province works on legislation
“It’s going to come from a very balanced and evidencebased approach that we will communicate to the public and hopefully build the recognition of the value of it.”
Police Chief Brad Macconnell
Traffic enforcement cameras are not coming to Charlottetown – yet.
Last month, council voted on $86 million in capital projects for the city and its utilities.
But that number left out a $500,000 request from the police to buy traffic cameras.
Police Chief Brad Macconnell made the request earlier in the budget discussions, then pulled the item before the final draft of the budget.
The cameras would require a provincial law change, but that won’t happen in the current sitting of the legislature. So Macconnell limited his final requests to items the force could use this year, he said in an April 4 Saltwire interview.
“They were looking to really focus on things that managers could pretty much guarantee could be delivered upon within this budget cycle. And because that wasn’t fully in our control, because the province is still finalizing regulations, we decided to take that out of our budget and focus on things that we could control.”
TECH
The cameras capture data such as speed and send it to a central data centre. Then, an officer verifies the infraction, before sending a ticket by mail, email or both.
The goal is not to bring in revenue, though. It is to change behaviour and improve public safety, Macconnell said.
Privacy concerns are always a question when surveillance technology is in the budget.
But Macconnell said traffic enforcement cameras would only be checked when there is an incident. They are not intended for general surveillance, he said.
“It’s going to come from a very balanced and evidencebased approach that we will communicate to the public and hopefully build the recognition of the value of it.”
He also said the police have worked with the privacy commissioner on a framework for traffic cameras and the e-watch system that has been operating for several years.
Still, Macconnell said some level of criticism is typical with new technology.
When the city does eventually buy the cameras, Macconnell expects they’ll go in high traffic areas, such as school zones, he said.
“You would see only cameras being placed where there was evidence-based data to justify their location there."
This could include limiting hours of operation to peak times, instead of 24 hours each day, he said.
While traffic enforcement is on the back burner, the budget did include two line items for e-watch cameras, totalling nearly $80,000.
PROVINCE
On March 22, Kip Ready, senior communications officer with the Department of Justice, said traffic enforcement cameras are a complex project.
“(It) requires collaboration between the departments of transportation and iinfrastructure, justice and public safety and a number of external stakeholders groups such as the federation of municipalities.”
The work is still in the preliminary stages, so there is no timeline, he said.
“Updates will be provided to external groups and made available as the project progresses.”
An earlier email from the department on Jan. 14 said virtually the same thing.