A surveillence camera in Kelowna's Stuart Park.

(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

Kamloops city council is set to consider funding a video surveillance system in an effort to reduce spending on security guards.

The proposed plan would have a bylaw officer monitor the cameras both for public safety and "non-criminal-related nuisance behaviour," according to a city staff report.

Security guards currently watch over public spaces like Riverside Park, but a centralized 24/7 surveillance system is being pitched as a way to reduce reliance on private companies.

Kamloops wouldn't be the first city to bring in a surveillance network. One particular example is Kelowna, which faced concerns from the province's privacy commissioner in 2018.

"Video surveillance is tempting to local governments," then-commissioner Drew McArthur said in a memo at the time. "At first blush it’s an easy way to appear to address public safety issues, rather than take on the more difficult challenge of the social ills from which crime arises. But what Richmond, Terrace, and Kelowna are ignoring is that for all its monetary and privacy costs, there is little evidence that surveillance works."

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner said Kelowna would have to show it would use full-time surveillance it in a way that's effective, without infringing on personal privacy. At the time no other public body in BC had shown it to be justified and lawful.

Though hundreds were already in use at Kelowna facilities, including street cameras, the new plan added live monitoring. Kelowna had to prove to the commissioner its use would be justified, but the city refused to provide the justification publicly in 2018, and information on its current use is sparse online.

READ MORE: Kamloops mayor got nearly 20 privacy breach warnings since election: court documents

It's not the first time such a system was floated in Kamloops either.

Councillor Bill Sarai suggested the city explore options in 2021 in the wake of mounting complaints from the business sector.

The new proposal for Kamloops, however, is billed as a "corporate security" model, meant to protect civic property and bolster public safety.

Just how widespread the cameras might be isn't clear in the report, which is part of a Feb. 11 council meeting on the 2025 budget.

Aside from cameras at civic facilities, the system would include more cameras "in public spaces to combat graffiti and public nuisance leading to the perception of unsafe streets."

"This should also include an immediate intermediate response unit that  can respond promptly to non-criminal-related nuisance behaviour," the report reads.

READ MORE: Kamloops council unhappy with high RCMP cost wants new deal with feds, province

City-owned cameras would be monitored at 340 Victoria Street, where bylaw officers currently have a space mainly used for lunch breaks.

There's no mention of incorporating a registry of private surveillance cameras, a program newly used in Kelowna, nor if Kamloops RCMP would access the cameras for criminal investigations.

Police are only mentioned in the report to help city staff determine the best locations to place the cameras.

Aside from monitoring human behaviour, the cameras could also be used for parking management and monitoring snow accumulation, according to the report.

The surveillance system is projected to cost more than $800,000 per year until at least 2029 if installed, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the city currently spends less than half of that on security services, but those costs are poised to spike.

Previously bolstered by grants, the city currently dedicates $300,000 in tax funds per year to security. Without the grant, it would cost $700,000 per year for the security contract without cutting patrols.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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