Three surveillance cameras that kept an eye on downtown Toronto streets during the holiday season were being taken down Monday.
The cameras were erected high above three busy downtown intersections on Dec. 18. The provincial government gave the city $2 million to fund a pilot project to see if the cameras can effectively deter crimes.
Cameras kept a 24-hour vigil above the intersections of Yonge and Dundas, Gould and Gerrard Streets for three weeks.
It was a welcome addition to the downtown, according to local business people who said they want the cameras installed permanently.
"I think they should continue it on a yearly basis, forever," one man told CTV's Janice Golding on Monday. "Regardless of what the cost would be, it would probably save lives," he added.
The cameras did catch a shooting on Yonge Street in late December. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the leg near a music store.
Police are using the videotapes as part of their investigation.
"I can tell you there were images that were captured and that those will be used by our investigators in an attempt to move that case forward," Staff Supt. Glenn Decaire said.
Police have not gathered statistics from the three weeks of surveillance, but they believe the cameras proved to be a valuable crime-fighting tool.
The holiday surveillance program was implemented following concerns from business owners who did not want to see a repeat of the 2005 Boxing Day gang shootout.
That shooting left several people wounded and took the life of 15-year-old Jane Creba when she was caught in the crossfire.
The Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Association has asked Mayor David Miller to make cameras a permanent fixture.
That wish received high-level support on Monday.
Premier Dalton McGuinty, who lives near Yonge and Dundas, said he likes the feeling of police keeping an electronic watch over the neighbourhood.
"I like the notion of cameras being there," McGuinty said.
"I don't find them invasive. I find that they lend comfort and they are there specifically at the request of the people of Toronto and I support that."
The premier did not say if the provincial government would be offering more money to the city to keep the cameras in place.
Police are currently evaluating other communities within the city which may be candidates for surveillance cameras.
Twenty cameras are expected to be erected in some of those areas in April.
With reports from CTV's Paul Bliss and Janice Golding
