Toronto Police say they plan to use security cameras to watch over the partiers who crowd a downtown stretch of Yonge Street every Caribana weekend, a move praised by local businesses and organizers of the Caribbean festival.
By Jeff Gray in Thursday's Globe and MailPolice would not say how many cameras are being rolled out, but said each one will be marked by a sign warning people they are under police surveillance.
"There will be nothing secret about them," acting police chief Tony Warr said yesterday in a statement. "There will be signs advertising their presence. They have two clear purposes: Deter those who may be considering committing crime and provide evidence to identify, arrest and charge those who choose to commit crime."
The organizers of Caribana, a different group this year after the festival's founding organization ran into financial trouble and a dispute with the city, say they have met with police and have no problem with the cameras.
"Quite frankly, I think it's great," said Eddison Doyle, an accountant and former executive with AT&T and Lucent Technologies brought in to run the festival's finances this year. "Because what you normally find is that you have a few individuals who can create a bad name for the millions that enjoy themselves."
When violence has erupted in the past during the informal late-night party that takes over Yonge Street from Queen Street to just north of College Street on Caribana weekend, festival organizers have been quick to stress that they have nothing to do with that event. And there have also been tensions between organizers and police in the past.
According to Mr. Doyle, an informal gathering on the eve of Caribana's signature parade happens every year because "folks just don't want to sleep," and he says this year police and his group are working well together.
James Robinson, executive director of the Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area, said that police in recent years have stepped up their patrols of the area on the August long weekend on which Caribana falls, and that businesses strongly support the use of the closed-circuit television cameras.
"We think CCTV can be a tool that can enhance public safety," said Mr. Robinson, whose organization is looking into installing its own permanent cameras.
Mr. Robinson said police have had a much more visible presence in the past two years, and there have been fewer problems.
But in 2003, the street party descended into chaos that one officer described as a "war zone," just blocks from police headquarters. Around 3:30 a.m. on the Sunday, four men in their 20s were shot, with bullets being fired right under the noses of police.
Even before that, however, it was clear that police had lost control of the crowds. Alcohol was consumed openly and pot smoked on the street. Drivers refused police requests to move cars parked illegally. Some men videotaped themselves groping young women. Contingents of uniformed officers who tried to quiet things down were rebuffed by hostile people in the crowd -- some of whom tossed bottles.
