Strengthening CCTV Surveillance
New investment will provide Ontario police forces with more tools to prevent and fight crime
Criminals are always finding new ways of covering their tracks, but our PC government is determined to ensure municipalities and police services have the tools and resources they need to detect criminal activity and keep Ontarians safe.
That’s why we are investing approximately $1.6 million in 2020-21 through the Ontario CCTV Grant, a new program to expand the coverage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, a key tool in the fight against guns and gangs and other criminal activity. This investment will help 18 police services across the province better detect, investigate, and prevent criminal activity.
“By strengthening CCTV surveillance systems across the province, Ontario’s police services will be better equipped to prevent criminal activity, identify and apprehend offenders,” said Sylvia Jones, MPP for Dufferin-Caledon and Solicitor General. “This expansion will support the local fight against guns and gangs while deterring other crimes such as drug and human trafficking, street racing and stunt driving. The use of CCTV cameras will also help hold criminals accountable by providing important visual evidence to support investigations and the prosecution process.”
Funding through the new Ontario CCTV Grant, which was announced in August 2020, will help police services and their municipal partners install new or additional surveillance cameras in areas where gun and gang violence and other criminal activity are most prevalent.
The CCTV grant also builds on the province’s approximate $106 million investment to combat gun and gang violence, with the support of the federal government, through Ontario’s Guns, Gangs and Violence Reduction Strategy.
Our PC government is confident this investment will help municipalities expand their CCTV capacity and ramp up the local fight against crime.