Police Using Stadium Lights to Deter Hooligans

In an effort to curb violence and rowdiness in the Entertainment District after last call, Toronto Police are now employing stadium lights to deter would-be troublemakers, large crowds, and possibly vampires. The brain-child of Police Chief Bill Blair, the lights have been in use for the past few weeks and seem to be working.

Superintendent Hugh Ferguson of 52 Division, who takes charge of policing the club district, said, "Light it up, and it has that scattering effect," referring to the lights' uncanny ability to both reveal that not-so-hot-after-all guy you were about to go home with, and club-goers' cockroach-like aversion to light.

Councilor and anti-hooligan champion Adam Vaughan is also in support of the lights, and hoping the club owners will foot the bill for them to become permanently installed in the area.

While it's great that this another tactic that can be used to reduce crime in the area, it begs the question, how much is too much? How many of these measures, between closed-circuit cameras, stadium lights, and a heavy police presence, need to be put in place before police deem the area safe, and at what cost to taxpayers, area residents, and the general aesthetic of the city?

Photo by kompot.photo in the blogTO Flickr pool.