Brockton is having second thoughts of putting surveillance cameras in downtown Walkerton.
Council last night accepted a recommendation from the Police Services Board not to proceed with purchasing the equipment at this time.
Councillor Charlie Reidl says the Board recently paid a visit to Owen Sound where surveillance cameras are present in the downtown area.
Reidl — who sits as Chair of the Police Services Board — says City officials told them that there were some problems that have cropped up.
He says once the perpetrators discovered where the cameras are located, they simply moved to an area where no cameras were present.
He says that is forcing Owen Sound to purchase more cameras and thus becoming a more costly route to fight crime.
Reidl says the Municipality already budgeted 10 thousand dollars to set up the program.
He says Owen Sound has so far spent 50 thousand dollars on cameras and plans on spending another 10 to 15 thousand this year.
Reidl suggests that a Citizens on Patrol or COPS program be implemented instead.
But he says if the problems in downtown Walkerton continue to develop then they will revisit the camera issue again.
