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Sault police receive nearly $150K for camera deployment

Grant money from province will go towards camera deployment in 'violent crime areas'
2020-08-04 City Police Stock BC
Sault Ste. Marie Police file photo. Brad Coccimiglio/SooToday

The Ministry of the Solicitor General has awarded Sault Ste. Marie Police Service a $149,246 grant for closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera deployment in 'violent crime areas.' 

According to a government website the Ontario CCTV Grant is a provincial grant program that was launched in 2020 to "support police services by expanding CCTV systems to deter criminal activity and improve public safety."

Close to $1.8 million is being allocated across 20 police services for the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

Recipients of the Ontario CCTV Grant are required to pay a minimum of 50 per cent of the total project costs, up to a maximum of $200,000. 

Sault Ste. Marie Police Service spokesperson Lincoln Louttit told SooToday Friday that additional details should be made available to the public in the future. 

"In terms of deployment or what exactly that means, those are operational considerations and we don't have details to share at this time," Louttit said. 

Sault police previously received $28,797 in CCTV grant money from the ministry in 2021 in order to implement two new sets of stationary automated licence plate readers (ALPR), one located on Great Northern Road and another on Trunk Road. Each set of two cameras monitor every vehicle that enters and exits Sault Ste. Marie and compares the results to a list for ‘licence plates of interest’ at the east and north highway access points. 

The licence plate readers were activated June 13. 



James Hopkin

About the Author: James Hopkin

James Hopkin is a reporter for SooToday in Sault Ste. Marie
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