FOG BLOG NEW BRUNSWICK LOG: FREDERICTON TO INSTALL CAMERAS DOWNTOWN TO DETER VANDALISM!

Businesses turn to cameras in bid to reduce downtown Fredericton crime 5 closed-circuit cameras to be installed in crime-prone areas Big business is watching you — at least it you're trying to damage or steal its property.

Fredericton's downtown business association is using $60,000 collected from its members to purchase five security cameras that will be installed downtown, said Bruce McCormack, general manager of Downtown Fredericton Inc.

"Obviously, not everybody that comes into the downtown are A-1 citizens, so you know if there is something that happens in the downtown either, you know something stolen or a break-in or whatever... those cameras just another tool that can be used to, you know, to find out actually what's happened."

McCormack said the cameras are being purchased and installed in partnership with the City of Fredericton and the Fredericton Police Force. On Monday councillors approved the purchase of 12 of its own new surveillance cameras at a cost of about $57,000.

In a Fredericton city staff report, seven of the cameras will be "community cameras," used for monitoring traffic, pedestrian routes and river levels.

The other five are being referred to as "public safety cameras," which will bring the total installed up to 10 with the contribution by Downtown Fredericton Inc.

"Public safety cameras will not be actively monitored, only reviewed for evidence gathering purposes, if required," the city report says, adding that footage will only be stored for 14 days.

"Cameras will not be used for targeted offences and will not employ licence plate or facial recognition technology."

The cameras will not record audio, and they will all be installed in public places along with "overt signage."

"The goal is to support a safe, inclusive, and inviting community with a public safety lens," the report says.

McCormack said his organization is currently working with police to decide where the cameras should go, adding that once they're installed, access to the footage would be reserved for the police. Downtown businesses are collectively spending about $100,000 a year cleaning up graffiti and fixing vandalized property, said Mike Babineau, president of Downtown Fredericton Inc., and owner of multiple downtown businesses.

"And we're not even talking... about the issue of, you know, the drugs and and some of the issues that are happening on that side of things," Babineau said.