MOOSE JAW — Recent incidents of graffiti and property damage downtown have prompted city council to consider funding the installation of security cameras to potentially better protect the area.
Coun. Dawn Luhning introduced a motion during the Oct. 21 regular meeting to have city administration prepare a report for the 2025 budget discussions about possibly working with the Moose Jaw Police Service to install cameras on some of the city’s traffic and roadway infrastructure around the area.
Luhning explained that she saw a social media post from a business owner saying vandals had damaged his property. That prompted her to reflect on the fact that some residential properties have doorbell cameras or other security devices to catch “porch pirates” or the odd stray cat.
Furthermore, while reading the post, she saw someone’s comment saying the business owner should install security cameras to deter future incidents.
“I thought that was a very good piece of advice, and so it got me thinking that maybe it’s something the city can do to participate with helping with … things going around downtown,” Luhning said. “But it might also be a benefit for the police service and possibly for the city as well if there is any damage done to our property.
Luhning said she understood that this was a complicated situation since the downtown was a wide area. However, she pointed out that all she wants is for administration to bring a report with options about whether the city could install security cameras on infrastructure like traffic signals or city-owned buildings like city hall.
Council then voted 6-1 to accept the motion; Coun. Kim Robinson was opposed.
After the meeting, Mayor Clive Tolley said that adding cameras could make people feel more secure since the devices can record who comes to the property.
Moreover, he thought adding cameras to more locations was a “good idea” since they could support existing cameras and contribute to better surveillance should an incident happen. This would create a digital record and help “find the bad guys” so the police can prosecute them.
Tolley said he wasn’t concerned that more security cameras downtown would infringe on residents’ privacy rights, considering people are already on a public street and someone could take their picture or video.
“What I’m concerned about is somebody’s been tagging a lot of the buildings downtown this last few months, and then we as a city have to issue an order for the property owner to paint over that mess that people put on building … ,” he continued.
“Maybe we can catch some of these graffiti artists and stop the willful damage that’s taking place, prosecute people, and keep our downtown core clean the way it should be in a historical look that everybody appreciates,” the mayor remarked.
Tolley added that people tell him daily that they enjoy coming to Moose Jaw to see the historical buildings, so if cameras can stop vandals or graffiti artists from ruining such surfaces, then so much the better.
The inaugural meeting of the new city council is Monday, Nov. 18, while the first regular meeting is Monday, Nov. 25.
