THUNDER BAY -- Some councillors think there's a better way to monitor city streets.
In what is almost an annual event, councillors raised concerns about the city's $157,000 Eye on the Street program. The most recent concerns came at Monday night’s council meeting at city hall.
Coun. Aldo Ruberto said money would be better spent if it was given to local businesses to buy their own cameras that local police could use in the event of a crime.
"Which would be more effective, better pictures, better resolution,” he said.
Coun. Shelby Ch'ng, a south side business owner herself, agreed.
Her Victoria Avenue business was broken into last month. The program did nothing while her own security system, which features cameras inside the store, was able to capture the crime on video.
"They're not working the way they're intended to in my opinion as a business owner," she said.
But Coun. Trevor Giertuga said he wasn't comfortable changing the program so quickly.
"I don't like these on the fly," he said. "I'm not going to support it."
Instead council is going to let its crime prevention council and Thunder Bay Police Service look into the merits of the program.
