'We are prepared to help get rid of them,' Ont. government says after 16 speed cameras vandalized

Sixteen Toronto speed cameras were found damaged on Tuesday morning, only two days after the Parkside Drive speed camera was cut down for the seventh time in less than a year.

In an email to CBC, Toronto police confirmed the automated speed enforcement cameras were damaged overnight throughout the city.

Some of the damaged speed cameras include the two found cut down on O'Connor Drive, west of Coxwell Avenue, and Lake Shore Boulevard, just west of Woodbine Avenue. The Parkside Drive speed camera was cut down on Sept. 7.

In a news conference Tuesday, Duty Insp. Peter Wallace told reporters that the Toronto Police Service is investigating and will add more resources to its response to the vandalism, including having a presence around targeted areas.

"I can tell you that officers are analyzing each occurrence to gather evidence and identify witnesses," Wallace said at police headquarters. 

"We have additional investigative resources looking into each one of these occurrences."

Wallace declined to elaborate on the nature of the additional resources, but said police will work with the city to prevent further vandalism.

Motorists should expect a police presence in areas where speed cameras were targeted by vandals, he said.

"I want to make one thing clear: traffic enforcement continues," he said. "Our traffic officers will continue to enforce the law around speeding and other dangerous driving behaviours across the city."

At the news conference, police also released recent security camera images of two suspects believed responsible for the cutting down of the Parkside Drive speed camera. Both suspects were dressed in dark clothing.

'This is unacceptable,' councillor says

Coun. Brad Bradford posted a picture on social media on Tuesday showing the cut down speed camera on Lake Shore Boulevard.

"This is unacceptable. The perpetual struggle to keep these cameras up is becoming a joke," Bradford wrote.

Toronto police say they are investigating the incident on O’Connor Drive west of Coxwell Avenue. (Paul Smith/CBC)Ford vows to get rid of speed cameras if city doesn't

Speaking with reporters Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford said he is against the speed cameras and called them a "tax grab."

He said Toronto should get rid of all of the cameras, just like Vaughan did.

"Get rid of the speed cameras or I'm going to do it," said Ford. 

Toronto first asked for speed cameras back in 2016 and, a year later, then-premier Kathleen Wynne made changes to the Highway Traffic Act to allow for automated speed camera use in school and community zones.

It was the Ford government, however, that passed enabling regulations in December of 2019 that allowed municipalities to run such programs.

Ford told reporters Tuesday that he is "all about public safety," but that he's against taxes brought on by people's deaths.

"If you want to slow down traffic at school, you put the big huge signs, big flashing lights, crossing area, people will slow down," he said. "Why don't we put a police officer with a radar gun there every once in a while?"

WATCH | Could taxpayers be on the hook as speedcams keep getting cut down? Toronto's pole-mounted speed cameras have been vandalized at least 25 times since last November. And as CBC's Tyler Cheese explains, these incidents may end up costing taxpayers.

In an email on Tuesday, Dakota Brasier, spokesperson for Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, said the province will take steps later this year to get rid of speed cameras.

"We are exploring alternative tools to enhance traffic safety without the use of automatic speed cameras that are nothing but a cash grab. We want to see cities take steps to remove them, otherwise we are prepared to help get rid of them when the House returns in the Fall," Brasier said.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles scoffed when she heard the premier's comments.

"What an idiotic thing to say," she said.

The cameras are about trying to ensure road safety, aside from the issue of municipal revenue generation, Stiles said.

"I think that if you're speeding, you should stop speeding, because kids are going to get killed and pedestrians get killed, and nobody, nobody wants to hurt anyone," she said.

City condemns vandalism

Toronto has 150 automated speed cameras, Mayor Olivia Chow said, and they are aimed at keeping communities safe.

"Cutting down speed cameras is not a joke," she said at a news conference Tuesday.

"It's a criminal offence," she said. "I expect the police to do what they can to bring the criminals to justice and work with the city very closely to prevent further thefts, vandalism, destruction of public property, because we need to keep our community, our most vulnerable road users, such as children and seniors, safe."

In a statement, a spokesperson for the city said it is aware that multiple speed cameras were vandalized overnight and is asking anyone with information to contact the police.

"The City of Toronto condemns all vandalism of these speed cameras. Damaging these devices allows dangerous speeding to continue and undermines the safety of vulnerable road users, as all ASE devices are located in Community Safety Zones such as near schools, playgrounds and hospitals," Laura McQuillan said. 

McQuillan said the city is working with police on solutions to prevent future incidents of vandalism.

So far this year, the City of Toronto has imposed about $45.1 million in speed camera fines, McQuillan said, adding that in April, the city doubled the number of speed camera devices from 75 to 150.

She said the city does not own any of the cameras as they are a vendor-provided service, and there is no cost to the city, and no additional taxpayer dollars are spent when a speed camera is damaged, as this is built into the contract with the vendor.