Police call for end to 'rooftopping' photography in Toronto
'Eventually somebody is going to make a mistake, and it will be a critical one," police officer says

The Canadian Press
February 2, 2016

http://www.cbc.ca/...g-to-end-1.3428954

"Sitting on top of a tall building is no different than sitting on a bench — you're not going to fall off a bench unless you're throwing yourself off."

Yes, well... except you'd survive a fall off a park bench. There's also wind gusts and possible lightning to contend with.
With the roof toppers putting their own padlocks on other people's buildings it seems things are getting a bit woolly up there.
Somehow I doubt the threat of arrest will do much to stop them.
Free publicity... and $1.5G is a nice piece of change.

Maybe if everybody could calm down on their Instagram accounts we could all enjoy this lovely, risky, hobby without so much attention.

The safety thing is another thing all together... Climbing a crane and wearing fall protection is safe only if someone is there to get you down ASAP if you're dangling from your harness. (Dangling, legs lose circulation, bad things happen.) Not going to get rescued at 3am. So, it's probably better to just be extra cautious, as people have been. Even if you do get rescued and live, you're going to get bitch slapped for wasting all that public money.

I miss roof topping, just can't risk the police attention as it's not worth it for me. Legal ways up or bust, sigh.

The guy being interviewed seems a little delusional about this whole thing, making it out to be a lot more intense than it actually is.
"The rooftopping scene (in Toronto) is really well oiled. It's groups of two, three or four people, and they battle for the rooftops,"
This almost seems like an onion article.

Regarding the padlocks on buildings, I call BS on rooftoppers being the ones placing locks on roofs to "claim" their territory. If someone locks up a roof, chances are it's the person who owns it.

The title of this article makes it out to be much worse than it is. There is no "public call" from TPS about it - they just interviewed one cop on a slow news day. Not even a high ranking one - he is the lowest rank there is.

Posted by Darthbindy Regarding the padlocks on buildings, I call BS on rooftoppers being the ones placing locks on roofs to "claim" their territory. If someone locks up a roof, chances are it's the person who owns it.

Agreed. I've seen it in some places though - usually people linking their padlocks on to the legitimate ones so they can open the gate when they want with their key. But locking someone else's property? Major douche move.

I don't know, I've always found sitting on benches to be kind of scary, what if I sit on someones gum, and what if I did fall of the bench and break my tail bone, can I sue the town then? I'm almost thirty I live the boring life, and this is the most excitement I get. (In all fairness I haven't made it to the roof of any building yet but it is definitely on my bucket list.)

If you stay away from the actual rooftop edges, and mind the possible inclines that the roof may have then I don't see the dangers of doing it. There will always be those few individuals who feel like vandalizing the rooftop, or putting their own locks on the entrance doors, or any other malicious acts, and these people ruin it for the rest of us as they always do.

But I am scared of heights......

People should enjoy the hobby for themselves, not for publicity. With all the post on Instagram it would be unethical for the police to not at least address it.