It’s National Police Week, and during this week we will acknowledge and highlight the ways that our Security and Video Monitoring teams collaborate with Police to help keep our communities safe & secure.
National Police Week is a week-long public awareness campaign that recognizes and celebrates the positive impact Police have in our communities. It was first established in 1970 to coincide with Peace Officers Memorial Day, a day that is dedicated to remembering those who lost their lives in the line of duty. Running from May 14th until May 20th, this year’s National Police Week theme across Canada is:
“Committed to Serve”
“The community wants and expects the police to keep them safe. To residents, we are the police. They do not differentiate between patches or names, but simply want one thing – for us to keep them safe and well. Police services across the country are joined in achieving this goal – we are "committed to serve" in communities across the country. Collectively, and with other first responders, social and community organizations, we achieve this 24/7/365. Our teams are committed to working towards a stronger, safer, brighter future for all.”
– Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (1)
We have seen firsthand how these Police Organizations protect citizens, businesses, and the community at large; helping every day to keep people safe and bring peace & security to the regions in which they serve. On a daily basis, our team works closely with Police on a variety of different fronts:
How do we assist Police in protecting & serving our communities?
Our ongoing mission is to detect and deter criminals from taking action on any sites that we monitor, but there are instances where our team collaborates directly with Police to mitigate security & safety threats.
We utilize a variety of different methods to proactively prevent crime. Our Live Remote Video Monitoring facility is our hub for crime prevention, and utilizing our proprietary Video Security Units, our Operators are able to issue a number of different deterrents before involving Police in any incident.
Through the use of voice commands, our team warn potential trespassers that the site is off limits, and Police will be dispatched if they proceed. This is accompanied by a high-vis LED strobe light that adds an additional layer of crime deterrence by bringing unwanted attention to the area where the potential criminal is located.
Furthermore, the use of high-resolution cameras helps our Monitoring Team to see everything that is occurring, and track a situation as it unfolds – in real time. The use of stationary cameras allows for perimeter coverage on site, and our PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) cameras allow our team to zoom in on the action and gather high quality evidence & accurate descriptions of suspects, locations, and behavior. If a suspect is not deterred from committing a crime by our proactive means, our operators will immediately dispatch law enforcement and provide them with the details that have been observed and collected.
Calls made by our team from our UL Certified Monitoring facility to law enforcement are regarded as a priority by Police Dispatch Operators as we are witnessing active ‘crimes-in-progress’, which results in faster arrival times by responding Officers. Our team stays in close contact with Officers on site and updates them as they continue to track the situation from our monitoring facility. We value the spirit of cooperation that we share with law enforcement and our ability to work together to keep people and properties safe and secure.
Providing assistance for ongoing investigations:
Our work with Police doesn’t end after a suspect has been apprehended. Often times, after a crime has been committed, Police may need to pull footage to assist with court cases. Our high-quality security footage is often utilized during court proceedings, or to help Detectives along in an active & ongoing investigation.
Upon Police request, our Investigations team pulls footage from any site where our cameras are deployed, sharing it with law enforcement to use in their cases. On its own, or when combined with other types of evidence such as eyewitness testimony, this footage can be extremely helpful to Police in investigating crimes & solving cases.
Our security cameras are recording 24/7, even outside of our standard monitoring hours. For instance, if a theft or robbery occurs, and a getaway vehicle made its escape within view of our cameras, our team will investigate and securely deliver that footage to law enforcement to help find those responsible for the crime. Providing footage and context for an incident of crime is one of the ways we assist police in apprehending suspects.
Providing Court testimony, when requested:
There are occasionally times when members of our Monitoring and Investigations teams are called to testify in court and assist law enforcement with prosecuting a case.
When a case is tried in court, the judge and legal teams may not be familiar with how Caliber’s live remote video monitoring works, how the proprietary technology we use functions, or they need additional details and clarity on the footage captured by our video security units.
Our teams provide added context as to what they saw on camera and the circumstances under which Caliber came to monitor a particular incident and what occurred. They list specific dates and information relevant to the case, and help corroborate eyewitness testimony or other forms of evidence. They also speak to the functionality and efficacy of our technology, such as how our stationary cameras establish perimeter coverage and our PTZ cameras zoom in on the action to capture high resolution images.
Our live video monitoring operators validate and prove how they utilize these high quality images to track potential criminals and help law enforcement to keep sites protected and secure.
Partnering with Police to support our communities:
Beyond crime prevention & creating safer communities, we are proud to collaborate & partner with Police Organizations to help further serve and support our communities.
Among the initiatives we partner in, our annual participation in Peel Regional Police’s Polar Plunge fundraising event for Special Olympics Ontario proves to be one of the favourites for staff & the community alike.
This annual event raises funds & increases awareness for Special Olympics Ontario, which directly supports their essential athletic programs within our communities. Through sponsorship & actively participating (by plunging into the icy cold pool), our team helps raise money by joining our friends in law enforcement in a show of comradery and cooperation to help bolster communal wellbeing within our region.
We are proud to partner with Police around the country to help deter crime and better serve our communities. Our Security Team works diligently to secure sites and support Police in apprehending criminals, providing insight into investigations, testimony in court proceedings, and any other means that helps serve the greater good across the nation.
Resources:
- “National Police Week 2023”, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police