TTC votes on whether to retain surveillance video longer
Proposed change would make streetcar, bus footage available for 72 hours
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is voting on a measure today that would allow them to hold onto surveillance footage for a longer period of time.
Currently, TTC streetcars and buses only retain videos for a time period of 15 hours. Brad Ross, the transit commission's spokesman, told CBC News he wants to see that timeframe extended to 72 hours as is done on the city's subways.
"It gives people an opportunity," Ross explained, adding it gives residents more time to report something days after an event has occurred.
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The vote comes a year after a teenaged girl went to police to report an alleged assault on a TTC bus but there was no video evidence to support her case because a few days elapsed before she reported the incident.
"We were unable, unfortunately, to garner images from that bus because 15 hours had elapsed since the assault occurred," Ross said.
The proposed change won't have any impact on real time surveillance.
"This isn't about surveillance, we don't look at these images live," Ross said. "There's nothing from our buses or our streetcars that we can see live."
The decision on whether or not to retain video surveillance footage for longer will be made at today's meeting.