Toronto Police have launched another investigation after a speed enforcement camera on Parkside Drive in Toronto was cut down for the seventh time in less than a year.
Authorities say officers responded to a call Sunday morning after receiving reports the camera had been knocked over overnight. The incident is being treated as a mischief investigation.
The automated speed camera, first installed in 2021 following a fatal collision, has become a flashpoint in the community. According to city records, the device has issued more than 68,000 speeding tickets since being put in place.
Faraz Gholizadeh, co-chair of the local advocacy group Safe Parkside, said the camera has helped hold reckless drivers accountable but has faced repeated destruction. “In recent months, the camera has spent more time on its side or even submerged in a pond than upright,” he noted.
The first case of vandalism was reported in November 2024. Since then, the device has been cut down or damaged multiple times, with the latest incident happening only eight weeks after the last one.
Gholizadeh said the camera once recorded a driver traveling 154 kilometres an hour along Parkside Drive, nearly four times the posted speed limit.
City officials and community advocates argue the repeated vandalism undermines efforts to improve road safety in the area, which has long been a concern for residents.
