The concept, which was pitched to Chudleigh by local resident Juliano D'Lucca, is being heralded by the local politician as a "terrific idea."

"I think it's an interesting project. If we had cameras that focus on the street, there's no question they would keep crime out of the community," he said. "We don't have a lot of crime in Milton, and I want to keep it that way."

Chudleigh said if the cameras were installed at intersections, he would like them to only be monitored by police. Then, if a crime was committed in a certain area, officers could use the cameras to look for vehicles fleeing the scene and hopefully get a licence plate number.

"It's about catching the bad guys after they've committed a crime," he said.

Such a monitoring system could also offer possibilities for local businesses, said Chudleigh. For example, a business that's been robbed one or more times could pay to put a camera in to be monitored by the police.

D'Lucca said in his homeland of Brazil, crime went down after surveillance cameras were installed -- an initiative he helped raise funds for.

After hearing about some of the incidents that've occurred in town lately, the local businessman thought putting cameras throughout Milton could help here as well.

"Milton is a great community. My goal is to get these cameras up to keep Milton a safe place," he said.

Chudleigh said he'll meet with Mayor Gord Krantz and CAO Mario Belvedere later this month to discuss the proposal. After that, he plans to talk to Police Chief Gary Crowell. "I'm in the investigative stage to see how people feel about the idea," he said.

A public meeting on the topic may be held in the future.

If the project were to ultimately go ahead, Chudleigh said the cameras could be paid for through methods like fundraising.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com.