police

Tuesday July 24, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday July 24, 2012

Toronto police funding ‘huge victory,’ says Mayor Ford

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford declared victory after getting an assurance Monday from the province that funding would continue for a special police unit charged with addressing the root causes of violence.

Funding for the Toronto anti-violence intervention strategy (TAVIS) unit comes from the province, and Ford said Monday that Premier Dalton McGuinty committed to extending that funding on a permanent basis.

“I think that’s a huge victory for the taxpayers of Toronto,” Ford said in brief remarks after a meeting Monday afternoon with the premier and Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair that was called in the wake of a recent spate of violent gun crime in the city.

“I take Mr. McGuinty at his word. He told me straight out and no, there was no BS. I wasn’t going to sit there and listen to it,” Ford said.

“I asked for funding for TAVIS and he said, ‘Yes, we’re going to continue funding TAVIS.’ That’s what the people want. People want to live in this great city, which it is, and people want to come here and create jobs and have a safe environment to create jobs.”

Chief Blair said the funding commitment from the province will allow police to build on what TAVIS has already accomplished and to plan future deployments.

The mayor has previously disparaged youth outreach initiatives as “hug-a-thug” programs, while the premier has said a balanced approach is needed, with a need to invest in both social programs and police initiatives.

In another development, Ford will meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Toronto on Tuesday to discuss gun crime. (Source: CBC News)

 

Monday February 6, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Monday February 6, 2012

Offenders Everywhere

The names of dozens of alleged white supremacists in Canada are contained in files leaked by computer hackers in Europe intent on exposing hate movements, CBC News has learned.

The alleged white supremacists’ names were revealed earlier this month by members of a loose-knit group of hackers called Anonymous on a website called nazi-leaks.net, which is now offline.

In addition to emails and secret websites and blogs, the hackers uncovered photographs of children giving Nazi salutes at a gathering in Missouri, confidential legal documents and displays of Hitler tattoos.

“We can now begin to piece together a more accurate picture in terms of the distribution of these types of racist groups across Canada,” Loewen said.

Among the information hacked were the names of 74 Canadians — with associated street addresses, email addresses and passwords — who are members of Volksfront and Blood and Honour, along with 142 emails from people who had joined Blood and Honour’s Canadian online forum.

Meanwhile, Police in Ontario have arrested 60 men — including a daycare worker — and charged them with hundreds of child pornography offences.

The co-ordinated raids by 24 police forces across Ontario picked up the suspects in the days leading up to Thursday’s announcement.

“The is one of the largest co-ordinated efforts of its kind in Ontario,” said Det.-Sgt. Frank Goldschmidt of the Ontario Provincial Police. “We anticipate there will be several more charged.”(Source: CBC News) 

 

Thursday, January 10, 2002

Monday, February 17, 2014By Graeme MacKay – Monday, February 17, 2014

(Coloured version of cartoon that ran in the Hamilton Spectator, Thursday, January 10, 2002)

Hamilton Begins Camera Surveillance

Hamilton police are putting controversial video surveillance cameras into public areas of the downtown in a move they say will help prevent crime. Six closed-circuit television cameras are expected to be in operation by the end of March, initially covering public areas from James to Walnut streets.

The cameras will be controlled and monitored live from the central police station. They will also record all street activity on digital tape, 24 hours a day. Tapes will be kept, likely for 60 days, for possible use in following up a crime.

The pilot project will see Hamilton join a growing list of cities using surveillance cams against street crime.

No biometrics — such as face scans or other new technologies — will be used.

And police say the cameras will not breach privacy rights, despite a ruling in October by Canada’s privacy commissioner over public cameras used by the RCMP in Kelowna, B.C.

The 24-hour videotaping of Kelowna’s high-crime district stopped after privacy Commissioner George Radwanski ruled police have no right to do random round-the-clock surveillance of law-abiding citizens in public. (Original Source)