Crime-fighting tools or expensive toys?

By Marlo Campbell

March 11, 2010

It appears expensive technology and shiny new toys have become the new go-to solutions to Winnipeg’s crime problem.

As reported in the Winnipeg Free Press last week, the city will soon be deciding whether to extend funding for a one-year pilot project of the Winnipeg Police Service that saw 10 closed-circuit TV cameras installed in six strategic locations throughout the downtown and core area.

Total cost: $460,000.

When the project was first pitched, the hope was that the cameras’ presence would deter crime, increase public perception of safety and assist police investigations.

According to the Free Press, at least some of those hopes were realized; police requested camera footage 40 times in the last year (and, in 20 of those cases, doing so proved useful), while some residents of the neighbourhoods under surveillance reported feeling safer.

The closed circuit decision comes at a time when city hall is working to acquire a helicopter for the city’s police service. Council recently voted in favour of allocating $3.5 million towards this goal, an amount that would cover all startup expenses. Annual operating costs, meanwhile — estimated to be $1.3 million — are to come from the province, which has yet to commit to the plan but hey, why let that stop the process, right?

Proponents of both the surveillance cameras and the helicopter have referred to them as necessary “crime-fighting” tools.

This is where I get confused.

Obviously, crime is a serious problem in our city; in fact, a poll conducted last fall by Probe Research Inc. found 43% of Winnipeggers think crime, violence and gangs are the most important issues facing the city today. (For context, only 9% of respondents ranked infrastructure as a top priority, despite how much we love to grumble about our roads.)

However, my sense is that the majority of Winnipeggers do not want to fight crime so much as prevent it from happening in the first place — and if I’m right, that’s a whole different concept that requires a whole different set of tools.

This brings me to LiveSAFE, a long-term multi-sector plan meant to address the root causes of crime through social development that’s been slowly working its way through city hall for more than a year now.

It’s received little attention but has the potential to actually reduce crime in Winnipeg far more than cameras in a park or a helicopter in the sky.

LiveSAFE has yet to be costed out by the city. How much do you want to bet it will be allocated far less than $2 million a year — the combined annual cost of the CCTV project and the helicopter?

(Incidentally, the starting salary of a rookie WPS constable is $43,057, which means that $2 million a year could also pay for 46 new cops.)

For the record, I’m not necessarily opposed to closed circuit cameras and helicopters. In an ideal world, every city would provide every possible tool to its police force. In the real world, however, limited financial resources means choices have to be made.

I’m concerned we’re making the wrong choices.