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By Declan Finucane
Posted on September 19, 2022 at 2:47 pm
This speed camera was spray painted and overturned in the Clarkson area of Mississauga.
Several speed cameras installed by the city of Mississauga in an attempt to slow drivers down were recently vandalized, prompting at least one city councilor to publicly chastise those responsible.
“What an absolute shame… Everyone complains about the increase in speeding in our community and when we do everything we can to try and control it, THIS happens,” Mississauga Ward 10 Councilor Sue McFadden wrote in a Facebook post yesterday (18 September) which shows a speed camera on Churchill Meadows Blvd. partially covered in what looks like black spray paint.
“I will remove all the paint as soon as possible and the camera will remain on Churchill Meadows Blvd. Hope the camera caught who did it! Not to mention the cost to taxpayers of this cleanup…”
Dozens of people commented on the councilman’s post, with most, if not all, condemning the vandalism of the cameras, which were deployed through the city’s Automated Speed Enforcement (ASE) camera program.
“What a shameful act,” commented one person succinctly.
Another short answer noted that “It’s a waste (of) time as well as money.”
This speed camera on Churchill Meadows Blvd. it was recently spray painted. (Photo: Councilor Sue McFadden on Facebook)
One commentator, while condemning both speeding and vandalism, took the opportunity to suggest that “…the fines are cruel…and too high for most sufferers to pay their bills and make ends meet in today’s world.”
One man who commented addressed McFadden directly, saying these types of incidents don’t just happen in a small area of town.
“I observed a lot of places in the city of Mississauga” where you would find black paint on cameras that were then thrown on the ground.
One such vandalized ASE camera was discovered by a south Mississauga resident who took pictures of the toppled and spray-painted machine.
According to city figures released this summer, although the ASE program has issued more than $1 million in fines and has been somewhat effective in reducing the number of speeders, it is losing money.
A June 3 report by city transportation and labor staff noted that while the ASE camera program has reduced speeding in and around school zones, it’s also costing the city money due to problems collecting fines.
The ASE program launched in the summer of 2021, and as of April 9 of this year, all 22 cameras were “operational and enforcing posted speed limits in community safety zones within the neighborhood school area” across the city.
Cameras rotate between multiple locations as needed.
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