Morning Brew: Public School for Parents, 11 New Police Cameras, Vaughan Tornado Victims Helpless, Cell Phone while Driving Ban Starts Monday
Photo: untitled by danger.beard, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
Toronto District School Board (TDSB) director of education Chris Spence has some interesting ideas for public school reform - including a school for parents. "Sorry, Mom. You can't watch Grey's Anatomy until you finish your homework. And you won't be going to Florida in December if you still have a failing grade in Parenting on your mid-term report card!"
Note to city workers: stop throwing those garbage, recycling, and green bins around - they break, and it looks bad. Two city councilors are stepping up in an attempt to protect the city's investment and aesthetic, and I'm glad they are. The guys who pick up the trash on my street are brutal in this regard!
11 new police surveillance cameras are going to be installed in targeted communities in Toronto. This is in addition to the 15 already in place in the city. The news comes at the same time that police appeal to the public to help identify an SUV that was caught on video and involved in a vicious murder. In doing so, police have also revealed that video compatibility issues are preventing them from quickly accessing and reviewing a number of related videos, and that time-stamps on some of the recorded videos are incorrect (see video below).
David Chen, the shopkeeper facing charges stemming from a citizen's arrest that arguably was taken too far, did not see the charges against him dropped in court yesterday. Instead, the crown tried to plea bargain with him to help him avoid jail time, but the defence outright rejected the offer, calling it "insulting."
It's been about two months since tornadoes ripped apart some 70 homes in Vaughan, and in many cases, residents are still waiting for their insurance companies to give them compensation and set them on a path to recovery. We pay into insurance on time and for all time, but when it comes time to use it, it's often like pulling teeth.
And the much debated cell phone driving ban takes effect on Monday. Anyone want to put a wager on when the first charge will be laid? Toronto Police are going to let it slide until February 2010, but are the OPP going to set an example early on, or will it takes several months before police act on the new law (eg. the smoking in cars with kids law)?
Comments (8)
Really?
Pressing charges on David Chen?
This is what we are bringing to count?
Shouldn't the crown focus on prosecuting the criminal in this case rather than the victim?
As someone who came from an inner city school; the parents are the biggest problem facing this generation. For the most part they're a bunch of idiots incapable of raising children who can be somewhat responsible and study and take advantage of the free education we are afforded, rather than vandalize the school, do drugs, and act like thugs.
Parents need to stop automatically assuming their children are perfect, too.
"Footage is deleted every 72 hours, unless an incident occurs." Yet the police is constantly depending on other institutions to have footage that much older. An example of that occurred when they found the backpack of the Georgian teen in the Yonge and Eglinton area. They wanted video from weeks in the past.
"The hope is if clear guidelines exist, businesses will purchase systems that use a compatible format." A faint hope. No one is going to give much consideration Police standards during purchase if they are only voluntary. The system that works best for the institution's environment that comes in at the best cost will almost always win the contract. If the video system purchasing decisions are not local then you can bet Toronto Police standards won't even be known, let alone considered. Plus video surveilance systems are already in place in most high traveled private areas. Those systems aren't upgraded as ofter as you might think, especially the hardware.
"that time-stamps on some of the recorded videos are incorrect." Incorrect time stamps are usually due to bad configuration by the installer and/or use of an older system that doesn't support NTP or some other automated time updated scheme. The problem is that the institution isn't properly monitoring or this type of problem would be know and likely fixed.
Even though the ban on using cell phones while driving begins on Monday, Toronto Police aren't going to issue any tickets until February 2010. Until then, they'll pull you over if they see you talking or texting on a handset, but they'll just issue a warning, no ticket. It's supposed to get the word out about the new law. I guess they're assuming that Torontonians don't follow the news...
Re: Chen Shoplifting Case
There is something seriously wrong with our justice system when the criminal gets more leniency than the victim does. The Crown and judge gave that scum a plea bargain which resulted in less jail time in exchange for testimony against the very person he stole from, Mr Chen, and because of that testimony, Mr Chen is more of a victim than before. How the hell does that work?
These people should go watch "Law Abiding Citizen"
Agreed, Chen should have the charges dropped.
I think the reason the crown isn't doing so is that they want to keep the status quo where the only sanctioned users of force are police officers. The crown wants the public to not be empowered to look after their own property because they want to keep the peace.
If fewer people have physical confrontations (even justly) then there are fewer hospitalizations, fewer violent crimes, fewer charges, fewer imprisonments, and fewer deadly escalations.
So property crimes are generally ignored (e.g. bike thefts or car thefts). People who repeatedly steal large items for profit are hopefully investigated by police. But shop owners well they're pretty much SOL.
If the above isn't the rational the crown is using then I don't know what is.
Are the cops run like a business? They cannot issue tickets (or recover money) from shop lifters so maybe they don't bother doing so because it isn't profitable.
If they're already run as a private business, then why not go all the way and contract them out?
I'm hoping that's not the case, I hope they're just trying to keep the peace. Sucks for Chen.
re:camera's
Good! If the camera's help catch just one killer/kidnapper/hit and run driver, than I have no problems being video taped buying my groceries, vomiting on the street after a stupid night of drinking, or being caught staring at a pair of legs while ignoring my girlfriend talking about her crappy day at work.
I would gladly give up my privacy rights of walking down a public street to help those parents/siblings/lovers looking to find those who hurt their loved one.
View More Events
Suggest an Event
Join the blogTO Flickr group
Join the blogTO YouTube Group
RSS