Surveillance cameras about to turn on
10 now mounted on poles in Galt’s core; recordings to assist police investigations
CAMBRIDGE — For now, there are 10 cameras up on poles around the Galt core.
The city put them there to increase safety around downtown intersections, parking lots and the new pedestrian bridge over the Grand River.
It hopes to turn them on by mid-June. Then, more video surveillance cameras, in place to help police investigations, will be added.
“This is just Phase 1,” said Trevor McWilliams, the city’s business liaison officer. “Ten cameras is really nothing, right now. It’s a start.”
The initial setup, which includes servers to receive beamed images from the cameras, cost $200,000. Consultation with Galt businesses, property owners and police was also part of that.
Another $200,000 is to be spent on additional camera locations, including along the Grand River Trail between the Cambridge Mill and the Waterscape towers. Used syringes have been found littering the brush along that trail.
“There are concerns there,” Mayor Doug Craig told city council this week.
In the future, the Preston and Hespeler cores will be considered for more cameras.
This is called “public” public surveillance with signs posted advising the public of the cameras. It is not considered “covert” public surveillance, since no one is to be secretly watching. McWilliams said no one will be live viewing the camera feeds as they stream back to a terminal at city hall.
“Do we have the possibility of doing live viewing? Yes, but that’s not in the cards,” McWilliams said on Thursday. “We just don’t have the staff to do that. But it
will be recorded.”
For about 30 days, records will be kept and then erased. Police can request video from a certain time to help in an investigation. Police don’t have the staff to live view the camera feeds either, but one day they might.
Live viewing by police could happen if the circumstances warranted, perhaps to observe a demonstration as it happens or watch a building or area where suspicious activity might be occurring.
That makes Coun. Jan Liggett wary. She would like any such live viewing to be approved by council first.
“I just want it out there that we had this conversation to make sure the public realized we weren’t being Big Brother here,” Liggett told council this week. “This was supposed to be used after the fact if there were problems that were to have already occurred.”
Craig said he would talk with city manager Gary Dyke and city solicitor Kelly Yerxa to determine if requiring council approval for any live viewing of the camera footage would be too cumbersome for police.
Liggett said council approval could be easily attained.
“That can happen pretty quick with a special closed door meeting,” she said. “So there’s no delay in that.”
Meanwhile, the first 10 cameras await activation. Some are on regional poles so a licensing agreement with Waterloo Region, approved by city council on Tuesday, must be in place. Still, the city-owned cameras can’t be turned on until all infrastructure is complete and the region is content. That may take weeks.
The new pedestrian bridge is set to open on May 26. The city surveillance camera there likely won’t be activated for the opening.
“It’ll be close to that time, we’re hoping,” McWilliams said. “If I could activate them tomorrow, I would.”
jhicks@therecord.com