City
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.
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Not attracting enough tourists? Put up glowing lights!
Attracting too many suburban horndogs? Shine lights on them!
I felt bad for the people who live in the area before...they have to deal with noise, puke and piss on the sidewalks and drunken dolts.
Now they also have to live with police lights shining into their windows until the wee hours...
The lights they're using are the same kind used at night for roadwork, and they're damn bright! I'm also wondering how residents of the area feel about this.
That's like people who move next to the airport complaining about the noise.
I'd much prefer the police busting some head instead. :-p
I come from a small town, and bars are shut down ALL the time. The city and police aren't afraid of doing it. However, there is ever only one bar in a given area due to the small population. When someone breaks a store front down the road, it's pretty easy to figure out which bar is responsible.
What are Toronto police going to do? Ask the drunk who just kicked the car? They're fucking drunk! What they say means squat. People that drunk say a lot of things that are complete fabrications and are likely not to have remembered a whole lot that night.
Short of doubling the police presence on the streets, I doubt very much they have the manpower to consider following individuals as they leave the bars.