Work underway to overhaul Thunder Bay's Eye on the Street program

Thunder Bay's Eye on the Street surveillance camera program is being overhauled with money from a provincial grant.

The program was launched in 2005 and involves several cameras set up in various locations in the city to help monitor for suspicious activity, which could include assaults, thefts, property damage, or incidents involving drugs or alcohol, a recent report to city council states.

Thunder Bay police director of communications and technology Chris Adams told the city's police services board on Tuesday that the overhaul of the program will be an extensive one, which will "involve a lot of new cameras being installed, with a new network."

"We're very much excited about it and looking forward to seeing this tool being a very active tool for police going forward, to aid in investigations."

Adams said funding for the overhaul is coming from the city, as well as a provincial grant aimed at helping municipal police services expand closed-circuit television coverage.

In September, Thunder Bay City Councillor Peng You tabled a motion at council, asking for a report on the feasibility of transferring the Eye on the Street program to police control.

However, both city administration and the police services board have agreed the program should continue to be overseen by the city.

A report to council shows the cameras caught a total 93 suspicious incidents in 2019.

In 2018, the cameras caught 253 incidents city-wide; 389 incidents were captured by the cameras in 2017.

The council report states that the dropping numbers are due to the cameras themselves being a deterrent. In addition, police were able to secure more evidence from the cameras in 2019 than in the past.

Further, in some cases medical events were captured that didn't require a police response; those incidents were instead attended to by firefighters or paramedics.

A timeline for the completion of the Eye on the Street program's overhaul wasn't provided. The council report states work was due to begin in the fall, but some delays were being experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic

New police board chair

In other business on Tuesday's police board meeting, a new board chair was appointed.

City Councillor Kristen Oliver was named as chair for a one-year term, which began Tuesday.

She replaces police board member Georjann Morrisseau, whose one-year term has expired.

Michael Power, the board's newest member, was appointed as vice-chair on Tuesday; his term is also a year long.