RNC, Rogers preparing George St. cameras

Police in St. John's say they are one step closer to installing surveillance cameras in the city's downtown George Street bar district.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has named Rogers Communications as the preferred bidder on the work.

Const. Colin McNeil said it's now a matter of working out the details.

"Well of course with such an undertaking there is a great deal of technological issues and logistical issues that need to be worked out before this matter can be brought to fruition," said McNeil.

"So at this point in time we're working with this group to make sure this comes sooner rather than later."

The decision to install cameras was announced last year.

Last spring, Bob Johnston said putting security cameras on George Street was one of his priorities when he was named chief of the force.

"We're not looking to be the moral police," said Johnston, who succeeded former RNC chief Joe Browne on May 1.

"We're looking at dealing with issues that occur, for example, on George Street, where more often than not when somebody is assaulted, there's never really a witness that can give credible evidence in court," Johnston told reporters last April.

Johnston said there would be strong policies to dictate how investigators can use the closed-circuit video.

No timeline was released, but former premier Danny Williams, who attended a news conference about Johnston's appointment, said then that the system will be in place sooner rather than later.