The cameras are working
“If you plan on coming downtown Windsor and committing a crime. You’ve got to be off your rocker,” said Ward 3 city Coun. Renaldo Agostino
He is beyond pleased with the results of a four month pilot project involving 4K surveillance cameras in downtown Windsor
“That project probably saved downtown Windsor businesses close to a million dollars in damages,” Agostino remarked
Close to 200 incidents were logged during the pilot. Ninety per cent of them were criminal in nature. The other 10 per cent were safety concerns
The project, initiated by the Downtown BIA, involved five cameras monitored by ACS Security
“Some highlights of the report include a 75 per cent reduction in crime on the sites that we monitor,” said, Hassan Hammoud, ACS vice president of operations. “There’s even some cases where we’ve seen a 90 per cent decrease in police involvement through our two-way communication feature that we use through the cameras.”
The Bitcoin Building on Pelissier Street has one of the cameras
If someone breaches the property a security worker can give a friendly warning through a built in speaker on the camera. Most people leave, and police are notified when someone is reluctant
Ray Blanchard, the owner of the building, says people were breaking into his property every two to three weeks before he became part of the project
?Since then
“We’ve had one incident. One. That’s it,” he said. “I know there’s been other incidents in front of the building but nothing that has really affected our building.”
Most recently, one of the cameras recorded the suspect in a downtown shooting last weekend
“That camera picture of his face came from one of these private cameras so you can see the value playing out almost in real-time,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens. “We need to get there.”
The BIA set aside $110,000 earlier this year to increase the size of this downtown camera program. “Our goal is to have 25 cameras as soon as possible,” said downtown BIA Chair Chris McLeod
The BIA has been working with the city to come up with a system that could be used anywhere in the city. “We have to satisfy our own Canadian legislation, implement these frameworks that help us make sure our community is safe and secure,” said Dilkens
Agostino is hoping to see more cameras downtown before the New Year
“Downtown Windsor is closed for business when it comes for crime and that’s the way we’re working towards getting it to be and we just have to get a few more things put in place to get to that point,” he said
