Prince George council voted at its Monday, Dec. 16 meeting to contribute $35,750 from its remaining 2024 contingency funds and $4,250 from the 2024 operating budget to help create a new security camera pilot project downtown.
At the Sept. 27 meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety, Downtown Prince George and the Prince George Chamber of Commerce requested $40,000 for what they referred to as the “hard costs” of setting up the program aimed at tackling downtown crime.
A report presented by the organization at that meeting said the goal of the program is to reduce “theft, vandalism, and harassment through strategic surveillance and intervention.”
Those costs involve purchasing and installing camera equipment, hiring security monitoring services and communication-related expenses.
City manager Walter Babicz said staff spoke with their colleagues from the City of Penticton about a similar program it is running.
Eric Depenau, the city’s director of administrative services, said local RCMP view the program as potentially being positive enforcement tool for them. He said the cameras would be part of local RCMP’s closed-circuit television registry, which could help expedite accessing the data they collect.
However, it was noted that while council can order bylaw officers to comply with the pilot project, it can only request that the RCMP collaborate and it will be up to the Mounties whether they do so.
During council’s debate, Mayor Simon Yu said he viewed the approval of the program as a goodwill contribution towards the struggles faced by downtown businesses.
Coun. Kyle Sampson said he was concerned that the language of the motion didn’t make it clear enough that this was one-time funding to set up a pilot project and not commitment towards annual funding.
In response, Coun. Ron Polillo said he thought it was clear that the funding was for a pilot project and wasn’t a firm commitment past that point.
Coun. Tim Bennett said that he didn’t want residents to see the program as a “fix-all” for downtown issues, but one effort towards the neighbourhood’s improvement. He wanted to see the money on the project spent ethically, since it’s being handed over to a private entity.
Capturing footage of crimes won’t be helpful unless there are eventually prosecuted, said Coun. Garth Frizzell.
Coun. Cori Ramsay said she thought it was a good idea for the city to invest in pilot projects, but had concerns over funding needs should it extend past the initial stage.
Coun. Susan Scott said every pilot project has to start somewhere and $40,000 is nothing compared to what businesses in the area have had to pay because of crime.
Coun. Brian Skakun, joining the meeting remotely through Zoom, encouraged his colleagues to attend public safety committee meetings, where issues like this are discussed in detail.
Staff will return with a report after the one-year pilot program wraps up. Mayor Yu said he’ll expect to see a crime index map of downtown that compares Prince George’s program to other jurisdictions, including a prosecution rate.
Addressing Skakun’s comment, Sampson said if councillors were expected to attend every committee meeting including those they’re not on, it would defeat the purpose of having committees.
Manager of finance and IT services Kris Dalio said there was enough money remaining in the 2024 operating budget to cover the extra $4,250 cost.
The motions approving the program were approved unanimously.
