Over in the U.K., closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are a ubiquitous sight: the country—led by London—has more of the tiny public surveillance cameras than any other country in Europe. They're now a part of pop culture and are referenced in songs, used as album artwork, and in the case of one intrepid band, used to make a music video. The latest zinger in the debate over the effectiveness of CCTV is that, well, they’re......

In the fall of 1997, the Metro Toronto Zoo had something of a clearance sale, divesting itself of merchandise branded "Metro Toronto Zoo." On January 1st, the Megacity would be coming, the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto would be no more, and the Zoo—to be renamed simply the "Toronto Zoo"—would be prepared for the change. The Metropolitan Toronto Police, however, were not quite as on the ball. Two years later, in 2000, the organization finally......

The above video—not safe for work unless you're using headphones—was shot by the late Peter Walker and is a clip from Min Sook Lee's documentary Hogtown: The Politics of Policing (winner of the best Canadian feature prize at Hot Docs 2005). Uploaded to YouTube fewer than three weeks ago, it's been passed around online over the last few days, since being linked to by Toronto Life's Philip Preville in a Friday blog post. The......

With parking at a premium this holiday season, shopping malls see an increase in lazy, self-important jackasses who park in Accessible Parking spaces and abuse legitimate disability permits. The mind boggles at the selfish sense of entitlement this takes, and the Toronto Police Service won't care that you "just had to return a video." The Parking Enforcement Disabled Liason Unit have just entered a month-long enforcement blitz, focusing on those who park illegally in......

Poor OCAP. They can't even complain about the police watching them without the police watching them. At noon on Wednesday, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty held a press conference (not a rally or an action or a march but a press conference) at the northeast corner of Dundas and Sherbourne, and there was about one police officer for each person in attendance (around twenty). As eight or so cops casually observed the conference from......

They're in cabs, ATMs, and the Entertainment District, and they're about to be in all TTC vehicles. By next June, every one of the TTC's 1.5 million daily riders will be photographed multiple times over their journey. A part of the TTC's $18-million security plan, the commission will install up to 12,000 cameras throughout the system—in key station areas and on streetcars, buses, and subways. The intention is to provide police with evidence if......

When the Information and Privacy Commissioner for Ontario published its guidelines for the use of video surveillance cameras in public places back in October 2001 [.PDF], it summarized that institutions considering their use "must balance the benefits of video surveillance to the public against an individual’s right to be free of unwarranted intrusion into his or her life. Pervasive, routine and random surveillance of ordinary, lawful public activities interferes with an individual’s privacy." As......

Sam Sniderman (aka. The Record Man) wants the Sam's building to be sold to Ryerson University. Unfortunately, this does not comply with the conspiracy to turn every store on Yonge Street into a discount shoe outlet or nail salon. Sorry. Toronto couldn't handle a dirty bomb. According to a federal study, "the explosion of a small dirty bomb near the CN Tower would spew radioactivity over four square kilometres, resulting in mass anxiety, a......

Every weekday, we pick an image from the Torontoist Flickr Pool and feature it here on the site. It's our way to give the many excellent photographers in our pool the attention they deserve! Toronto Police have a visible presence at every event in Toronto and that didn't falter during the Pride Parade. Many photos of the authorities crop up afterwards, usually juxtaposed with a free-spirited individual, but they're usually not the stoic personalities many......

Their hulking frames are sure to strike fear into parking offenders everywhere—the new Toronto Police Services' smart fortwo! As part of a pilot project which also includes two Honda Civic hybrids, the two diesel-powered smarts [sic] are an initiative that uses vehicles that are not only more environmentally-friendly, but easier to park and navigate. The program began last month and the TPS has also been testing roof-mounted infrared cameras for parking enforcement, which will......

There are things that go on in this city at night that are far weirder than the leather-clad teenagers on Queen West. Did you know that vampires stalk High Park? Or that Toronto Police Services crossed into another dimension to investigate a suspicious death? No? Then you should check out Karen Bennett’s Fantastic Toronto project. Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing drew our attention to Bennett's labour of love. Bennett, a writer, photographer, panelist, and......

Meteorologists predict that this summer will be a scorcher, with temperatures in the 30-degree range for most of August. Don't worry, it won't be as hot as the summer of 2005. And sadly, it won't be as groovy as the summer of 1967. Toronto Police have made an arrest in the case of the Parkdale "neck licker." There are dozens of gunmen on the loose, but at least we got that pesky neck licker,......

If you remember the "handing over" of Iraq to Iraqi authorities by the US-led coalition a few seasons ago, you may recall that, in order to prevent terrorist attacks, the ceremony was performed a day early. Yup, W, you sure pulled a fast one on them. Well, we couldn't help but draw the mental parallel between that auspicious day and the rolling-out of new police cameras three days ahead of schedule, perhaps to zigzag......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. • The big story this week was the arrest of six kids for the murder of a 17-year-old boy in the Flemingdon Park area. On July 15, 2006, the victim was stripped and assaulted over several hours by a group of people outside a housing complex on Grenoble Drive, finally succumbing to......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. • Shortly after midnight on Sunday, a patron of Flirt Lounge on Adelaide West assaulted another patron, biting the victim's ear and separating a chunk of cartilage. A cell phone camera snapped an obscured image of the suspect during the altercation (pictured at right) and police say that most people in the......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. • An investigation is underway about a man posing as a police officer who is allegedly stealing personal belongings in the Entertainment District. The guy apparently uses imitation police equipment to gain entry into clubs, then steals unattended purses and mobile phones. Real cops are mandated to carry specific identification, which they......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. When the police weren't busy trying to manage opening and closing the Gardiner a bunch of times after the Great CN Tower Ice Incident of 2007, they had their hands full with some skeezy characters this week. • The Fraud Squad is in full-effect these days with yet another charity fraud arrest.......

If you're in the market for an inexpensive plastic Olsonite toilet seat in "Willow Mist," look no further than the Toronto Police Service. Every day, the Toronto Police seize stolen property or get random items turned-in by the public, all of which used to be sold-off at an annual auction. The TTC also sold-off unclaimed property every May and November, which netted bargain hunters steep discounts on things like iPods, digital cameras, jewelry—and especially......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. The strangest thing that police have been dealing with this week was ice falling off buildings, notably the CN Tower. In other news, however: don't check your coat with a gun in the pocket; another day care centre is defrauded; someone sets fire to a Toronto Community Housing facility; Fester meets......

Former Alliance president Robert Lantos and former president of CBS/Tri-Star Pictures/Sony Pictures Jeff Sagansky have invested millions in TV production company Blueprint Entertainment in order to create better Canadian television. Lantos explains, "The strategy is simple: to design TV shows that from the ground floor are genuinely Canadian...[and] whose first sale is to a network in the U.S. In the States, they perceive these shows as being domestic, so they are able to be......

If were anywhere near Jarvis and Dundas today, you were probably wondering if you've ever smelled anything so horrible, but one thing was certain: it was the smell of death. Late this morning, the Toronto Police Service were summoned to 276 George Street, just east of Jarvis, to investigate an intense smell of rot coming from an abandoned rooming house. What they discovered were more than a hundred dead sheep. Trying to make sense......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. The incidence of crime, like in election voting and retail sales, falls during periods of cruddy weather. This was a pretty uninteresting week for the criminal element in Hogtown, underscoring our reputation as one of the safest big cities in the world. Still, we had some armoured truck action, a Viagra......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. A man takes-out anger management issues on a TTC driver; newcomers to Canada are targets of a mail scam; officers wake-up a sleeping man and all hell breaks loose; and who's setting little fires around a downtown apartment building?......

Last night's Grammy awards were just as horrible as you assumed it would be. In the first five minutes: the reunited Police gave a lacklustre performance; Jaime Foxx's attempts to warm the crowd with stale racial jokes flopped; the first award went to a duet by Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder. Click. Broadcasting The Princess Bride twice during the lengthy award show was the smartest thing YTV has ever done. At least 11 students of......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. A bunch of Young Offenders aren't up to any good; a driver flees the scene of an accident that kills another; how $5 million in diamonds were stolen; a scumbag defrauds day care centres; and have you even heard of Safer Internet Day?......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. Some men of God haven't been acting very holy; 42 ain't no joy Division for a flasher; if you think that's apple juice, urine for a surprise; and don't go near your car if you get your drink-on this Sunday.......

Whether public surveillance cams make you feel all safe n’ cosy, or whether you find them an egregious infringement on your right to litter, tag, and engage in other anti-social behaviour, the Toronto Police Services Board wants to talk to you about it. As many readers will recall, the TPSB recently ended a month long test of closed circuit cameras on Yonge near Dundas, and have said that the cameras are proving helpful in the......

Tobogganing: Canada's deadliest backyard winter pastime. Vaughan Councillor Sandra Yeung Racco is campaigning for a helmet law in Ontario to prevent sled-related injuries amongst children with a need for speed. Okay, but quid pro quo, Mom and Dad. If you want us to wear safety gear while tobogganing, I want a more bad-ass sled. Like a double-length GT Snow Racer...with flamethrowers. "Stéphane Dion is not a leader": The Conservatives release an ad campaign attacking......

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law. Did a bouncer at a downown club rough-up a customer and leave him bleeding in an alley? How did a bus driver decide to play hookey instead of just calling-in sick? And what do you need lots of electricity and 24,776 of to make $25 million?......

Last December 30th, when it was reported that a bus was hijacked in downtown Toronto, the story that we were told didn't seem to make much sense. Here's what we wrote at the time: ...a TTC bus was hijacked earlier this afternoon, and the details as of right now are sketchy at best. According to City, a man boarded a bus at 12:30pm at around Bay and Wellesley, rode it down to Front and......