海角社区官网

The camera, which was installed after a fatal collision on Parkside in 2021, has been the frequent target of vandals in recent months. It has been slashed time and time again, sometimes within 24 hours of being reinstalled, and was once dragged 200 metres and thrown in High Park鈥檚 Duck Pond.

Its latest iteration, reinforced with a cubic metal pole and the camera emerging from the top, was reinstalled for the fourth time just last week.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just Groundhog Day,鈥� said Faraz Gholizadeh, co-chair of the community group Safe Parkside. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very frustrating and extremely disappointing that the city is just not acting on this issue, even despite everything that鈥檚 happened to get us here.鈥�

The city installed the camera after Artur Kotula, 41, crashed on that stretch of road in 2021 while going 120 km/h. The crash killed two seniors, Valdemar and Fatima Avila, and earlier this year Kotula was sentenced to six and a half years for two counts of dangerous driving causing death, and a second concurrent sentence of four years for two charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Since being installed three years ago, the camera has earned the city millions. It has clocked drivers going as fast as 154 km/h.

海角社区官网police are investigating the previous vandalism of the Parkside camera, and the cases are “still very active and ongoing,”聽spokesperson聽Laurie McCann said in an email.

“Again?” said Gord Perks, councillor for Parkdale-High聽Park, when informed by phone that the camera had been cut. “This is infuriating.”

Perks said the city has taken “quite a few short-term and long-term steps” to slow traffic on Parkside, including installing the speed camera, lowering the speed limit, installing two new traffic signals, adding pedestrian sidewalks and allowing parking on the east side of the street.

The city has also drafted plans to redesign the street with bike lanes, changing it from a major thoroughfare to a neighbourhood street, Perks said.

Gholizadeh said speeding is 鈥渟till a massive issue.”

鈥淲hen you have a two-kilometre street and you put a speed camera at the end of it, unfortunately it does very little for the rest of the street,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 speed camera can be cut down with a power tool but actual infrastructure changes on the street level can鈥檛 be vandalized the way the speed camera is.鈥�

Each time the camera is cut down, the city鈥檚 contractor, Verra Mobility, is responsible for fixing or replacing it within 30 days, the city previously told the Star. Verra Mobility must pay to replace it.

In a statement on Friday, the city said it is working with the contractor “on other measures to help reduce incidents of vandalism.” The Parkside camera is already remotely monitored, so Verra Mobility is notified when the camera goes offline unexpectedly, and is equipped with an audible alarm.

“While the city is working with the vendor on measures to help reduce incidents of vandalism, it鈥檚 important to note that the cameras will always be repaired or replaced to keep them in operation,” the city said.

In a separate statement, Verra Mobility said it is working with authorities and city staff to find the perpetrators.

“This is an act of vandalism against the cameras that help protect citizens and improve safety on our roads,” Verra Mobility said. “Once found, this person(s) will be held accountable.”

With files from Raju Mudhar聽