OLDS — The discovery last week of graffiti inside one of the washrooms in Rotary Athletic Park underlines the need for the municipality to examine where surveillance cameras should be located in the community, a councillor says.
Coun. Heather Ryan made that comment during an interview Dec. 17.
She stressed that washrooms pose a challenge due to privacy concerns in washroom cubicles, but said the issue is still worth discussing.
On Dec. 15, Olds RCMP asked for the public’s help to try to solve an incident of vandalism in the women’s washroom at Rotary Athletic Park.
Graffiti spray painted in that washroom was discovered on Dec. 10 by a resident walking in the park. The male washroom was also entered; however, its walls were not spray painted.
Both washrooms had been locked for the winter and the water was turned off on Oct. 27.
Olds RCMP Const. Morley Statchuck said no surveillance camera footage was available in the area.
During town council’s Dec. 13 meeting, Ryan reiterated a concern she voiced earlier: that $6,000 slated for cameras in the Sportsplex should be put on hold.
Instead, she said, a comprehensive study should be undertaken to determine where surveillance cameras should be set up in the community.
"Safety is a priority, so if we need them for safety, then we should definitely look at them,” Ryan said at that time.
She also said town officials should endeavour to ensure all cameras purchased and installed are from the same manufacturer.
Chief administrative officer Michael Merritt said that study is already underway.
“I’m not sure if we would have had them positioned correctly to cover that area. But certainly when I was talking about the cameras, I (would have) liked us to take a look at where we have cameras now and where we need them,” Ryan said during a Dec. 17 interview.
“We had the vandalism at the spray park and we’ve had graffiti incidents at the skate park. So now, we’ve got this over at the Rotary (Athletic) Park. Now, why anybody would have vandalized the washrooms is beyond me. I don’t know," she said.
“In this case, I don’t know whether or not we would have had cameras positioned that would have taken any footage. I don’t know if they would have captured anything or not," she said.
"But (this incident) does (underline) a need for us to take a look and audit what our actual needs are; prioritize what our needs are and then come up with an overall plan, rather than just piecemeal.”
