City hall to request $2.6 million for Olympic CCTV

Vancouver looks set to get the ball rolling on installing controversial CCTV cameras during the Olympics.

It’s meant to be a temporary measure, but civil liberties critics warn the move will pave the way for permanent closed-circuit TV cameras in Vancouver’s public spaces.

The province and Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit have made up to $2.6 million available for the temporary use of CCTV during the Olympics, according to the city’s office of emergency management.

V2010-ISU is recommending the cameras be deployed along the Granville entertainment district, at the cruise ship terminal area, and at two city-operated ‘Live Sites’ that will host large crowds during the Olympics.

All that’s left to do is for the city to officially request the money.

But Micheal Vonn, policy director for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, says previous Olympic cities, such as Athens, brought in temporary cameras only to see them made permanent after the games.

“It’s the standard drill with the Olympics,” Vonn said in an interview. “We have no reason to believe these will not be left as a legacy.”

Kevin Wallinger, the city’s director in the office of emergency management, says the future use of the cameras hasn’t been decided.

“Right now, it’s fully intended they would be temporary installations for the games,” Wallinger said.

Police and business groups in Vancouver have previously called for CCTV in the city. Critics, however, dispute their effectiveness, saying studies show cameras tend to move crime around rather than reduce it.