Rosedale residents considering car licence plate-scanning Flock system in bid to tackle property crime
A row has broken out in one of Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhoods over plans to use an AI-powered surveillance system to create the country’s first “virtual gated community” to combat surging property crime.
Crime rates in Toronto as a whole are dropping but residents of Rosedale have been left on edge by a sustained rise in home invasions, with robbers targeting the tree-lined neighbourhood at a rate more than double the city average. Break-ins and thefts remain the third highest per capita in Toronto.
Growing unease is reflected in the community’s WhatsApp group, where as many as 60 out of about 350 members are already contributing to fund private security.
“My friends experienced a horrific home invasion here in the community – their children were held at knifepoint, and they will be traumatised for the rest of their life,” said Craig Campbell, the Rosedale resident who proposed the plan. “Other friends aren’t sleeping well at night because they’re anxious about the crime that’s going to occur. Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected. Something has to be done.”
