File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Those surveillance cams rob us of privacy but solve many crimes

Aug 2, 2023 | 4:57 AM

A COUPLE MORE police incidents made the news Monday and Tuesday — one a shooting and the other the roadside discovery of a body.

The shooting reportedly occurred at a riverside tent camp along Schubert Drive. A 40-year-old woman was taken to hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds. No doubt, the incident will have set tongues to wagging over the homelessness issue in Kamloops.

“They really must do something,” will be the theme. “Oh, great, now the homeless have guns and are shooting each other,” people will say.

There was even speculation that the shooting was somehow connected to the discovery of a body on the Paul Lake-Pinantan Road that shut the road down for an extended period.

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But that’s just people talking. Let’s allow the police investigation to play out before we jump to conclusions.

In one respect, though, the shooting and the investigation on the road to Paul Lake do have something in common. — one of the first things the police did was to ask for the public’s assistance in finding out what happened.

Almost every news release from police these days begins with, “Kamloops RCMP are seeking witnesses” to whatever crime has occurred.

A skeptic might say police don’t do their own work anymore; the public has to solve everything for them. Whatever happened to the old days of good old police work, where gumshoes actually solved crimes?

Well, in the good old days, there were no dash cams or home-and-business surveillance cameras. Technology has enabled us common citizens to become the eyes and ears for police in a way we never were before.

There was a time when CCTV was highly controversial. “What about our privacy?!” people screamed. We now accept that we have very little in the way of privacy anymore, and in some ways that’s all to the good.

Solving the latest two high-profile incidents — as will many others — may well depend on somebody’s private video.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.