PRIVACY VS. PROTECTION

Vancouver Police Mull Use Of Cameras To Monitor Mean Streets

VANCOUVER (CP) - Canada's most crime-ridden neighbourhood is embroiled in a
debate about privacy versus projection over a proposal to install video
cameras in the downtown east side.

City police want to set up 25 cameras to monitor what many consider the
country's meanest streets - where prostitution and needle drug-taking are
openly practised.

The dilapidated 15-block area, east of Vancouver's glitzy core, records
21,000 police and ambulance calls a year.

Cameras would make a difference, Sgt. Grant Fredricks told a public meeting
yesterday.

"This program will have a significant impact on the statistics of violent
crime, stranger-to-stranger crime," he said.

City police Insp. Gary Greer said such a program has worked in other
countries, including Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

"It's very clear the use of closed-circuit television is controversial," he
acknowledged. "For a lot of people it conjures up concerns of 1984 and very
significant invasions of privacy."

East-side resident Sabrina Driuna wondered who will have access to the
camera's tapes.

"Will the public have access for criminal compensation to use as evidence?"
she asked.

Driuna also asked whether immigration officials would be allowed to view
the surveillance tapes looking for illegal immigrants.

Cities worried about crime are increasingly considering cameras to watch
their streets.

Such cameras are already commonplace in British cities and on private and
public buildings in Canada.

Last year, Regina approved the installation of cameras on its downtown
streets. City councils in Winnipeg and Victoria, where parkade cameras
succeeded in reducing crime, are also considering street cameras.

If it's approved in Vancouver, the system would cost about $400,000.

Police would know about a crime within one or two seconds, drastically
improving response time.

Drug dealers loiter on busy corners in Vancouver's east side, and addicts
shoot up openly in alleys and alcoves. Ambulances are a frequent sight as
paramedics treat overdoses on the street.