November 5 – 11th, 2023 is Crime Prevention Week across Ontario. How do we work with Police to prevent and deter crime before it ever happens?
“Police services across Ontario are deeply committed to crime prevention, particularly during these uncertain times. During Crime Prevention Week, Ontarians will have opportunities to see the hard work and dedication of our police officers, civilian personnel, Special Constables, and Auxiliary Officers in keeping all communities safe.” (1)
– Jeff McGuire, Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP)| Executive Director
What is Crime Prevention Week?
The first week of November has been declared Crime Prevention Month across Ontario, and falls from November 5th-11th this year. Led annually by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) and the Government of Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General, this awareness campaign showcases the collaborative efforts between Police and the community at large. Many municipal Police departments across Ontario participate in Crime Prevention Week every year – this year, the campaign is geared towards creating Awareness, Engagement, & Prevention.
What are some tips to prevent crime?
There are several ways we can all be safer and more aware to help prevent crime:
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Don’t leave valuables visible inside your car
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Always lock your car when you park and put your windows up
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Avoid walking alone, especially at night: there is safety in numbers
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Avoid isolated areas such as parking lots, garages, and alleyways
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If you own a business, remove all valuables from storefront displays to help reduce smash and grab thefts
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Increase business visibility and evaluate lighting in evening hours for areas of shadow and contrast, particularly in relation to entry points (4) (5) (6)
What Governmental efforts have been made to help prevent crime?
The federal government has taken the issue of crime prevention very seriously, and has allocated funds to various municipalities across Canada to support crime prevention efforts. In Calgary, AB the federal government has pledged $7.7 million for crime prevention efforts, as crime rates significantly increased over the last few years in the area (2) . Similar funding has been given in areas such as Winnipeg, MB – with a focus on mental health initiatives, community outreach, and social programs (3). These initiatives are a great foundation to help build safer, and more secure communities.
Our collaboration with Law Enforcement to prevent crime:
Our Live Remote Video Monitoring team work closely with law enforcement on a daily basis to deter crime, and calls from our UL Certified Monitoring Centre are treated with priority response as they are reporting a ‘crime in progress’. Our team stay in close contact with Police throughout the event – utilizing our bright, LED strobe lights to direct Police in the right direction and a PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera to monitor the situation as it happens. In addition to providing proactive security, details captured by our Video Security Units are also very useful for community coverage and tracking suspects for other crimes. Our Investigations team also collaborate with law enforcement, providing information and clarity on incidents that have been caught on camera, when crimes or mishaps occur in areas we may not enlisted to protect. The high-resolution video feeds captured by our cameras are especially useful in Police investigations, providing court quality evidence to help with their cases.
Our Team works to prevent crime through proactive deterrence, with a multi-layered approach to security. The first layer deployed is our deterrence signage, indicating to potential criminals that the area is live monitored and off limits to trespassers. This signage is placed on exterior fences, or around the perimeter of the site; many would be criminals will cease their actions once they know there is potential to be caught on camera by our team and Police.
Establishing perimeter coverage and situational awareness is key to deterring crime – creating a field of vision with cameras that is hard for suspects to hide from. Our Video Security Units are designed to provide coverage for a variety of sites, leveraging the power of our proprietary cellular LTE+ platform to create a wireless security network. Stationary cameras provide a fixed view, and PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom) cameras can zoom in on important details in high-resolution.
Our proprietary artificial intelligence system allows for instantaneous and accurate detections – making it easier for our Monitoring team to detect and deter criminals before they strike. The AI system is constantly learning and adapting as we continuously feed it more data and information, and helps our team to deter and prevent crime on a daily basis. Proactive security is meant to deter crime before it happens. If someone trespasses onto a site, our Monitoring team will issue active deterrents – bright LED strobe lights, and loud, authoritative voice commands – which means there is no need for Police involvement most of the time. If a situation does escalate, our Monitoring team will dispatch Law Enforcement to the scene, and work alongside them until the threat is mitigated.
Preventing crime is our primary mission, and through Crime Prevention Week, we are dedicated to spreading awareness on how we can all help lower crime rates to ensure a safer, more secure community.
Resources:
- “Ontario’s Police Services Launch Provincial Crime Prevention Week”, OACP.ca, November 6, 2023
- “Federal government promises $7.7 million for crime prevention in Calgary”, Elise von Scheel, CBC News, July 12, 2023
- “Mayoral candidate Gillingham unveils crime prevention plan for Winnipeg”, Bartley Kives, CBC News, July 14, 2022
- “Crime Prevention Tips”, London Police Service
- “Crime Prevention”, Niagara Regional Police Service
- “Crime Prevention”, Hamilton Police Service