Crime deterrent or Big Brother? Downtown safety camera pilot draws mixed reactions

A proposed safety pilot project putting eyes in the sky in downtown Winnipeg is drawing skepticism, with some questioning whether the cameras would actually deter crime and worry about privacy.

Cierra Giesbrecht says she doesn't feel safe downtown.

"I just moved back to Winnipeg and it's a nightmare," she said, adding she would like to see more eyes on the street. "I do think that it might help prevent crime."

That's the goal of the Downtown Community Safety Partnership, a group pushing for a pilot project that would see the installation of 10 to 20 surveillance cameras in downtown.

It's unclear when the cameras would go up, but the Downtown Community Safety Partnership hopes to get them up very soon. The group has been planning this since 2019, but like many other projects, it was put on the back burner because of the pandemic.

"We want to get people back downtown," said Greg Burnett, the executive director with the partnership. "We really want to energize a vibrant downtown, it's key in any city."

This comes after a string of violent crimes in the city.

Harvey Gingras, who was walking in downtown Thursday, is in favour of the plan. He said while he is okay being in the area during the day, he wouldn't come to the downtown at night. While he said cameras might not stop crimes of opportunity, he believes they could be useful for police.

"That way, if something happened, they would be able to have a recording of what's happening, so police can have some information, maybe you could find people," Gingras said.

However Michael Weinrath, a criminologist at the University of Winnipeg, said studies show the technology does not deter violent crime

"Generally, they don't show much effect," he said. "Violent crime is sporadic, it's just a spur of the moment, people lose their temper."

And he says there are costs associated with keeping track of the footage – a concern shared by Winnipeg's Police Board Chair Markus Chambers.

"What does that represent in terms of dollars to have somebody actually sit there to monitor the video on a daily basis," he said.

Chambers said privacy is also an issue, as the cameras could be on 24/7 recording everyone.

"To use it as a law enforcement tool, I think would be too 'Big Brotherish,'" he said. "That's where I would have concerns."

For Cierra Giesbrecht, it's a balancing act.

"I kind of feel like safety is more important than the latter," she said.