Municipalities are responsible for creating, implementing, and maintaining the services and amenities that create the high quality of life within our Canadian communities. When these Municipalities require additional support & security, our team is there and willing to help in any way we can.
What threats do Municipality Properties face?
Locations such as Government funded construction sites, city owned buildings, and community parking lots often see traffic from unwanted trespassers and vandals, especially after hours. When security measures are not present, these individuals are free to their own will, and can cause extensive property damage and the theft of valuable assets.
An example of this occurred on August 17th, 2021, when 11 vehicles were vandalized in the parking lot of the Confederation Building in St. Johns, Newfoundland(1). The Government owned vehicles had their windows smashed, tires slashed, and sustained other extensive damage. Unfortunately, this is not the only recent example of Municipality properties being vandalized.
In April 2022, a large statue located in Vancouver’s Chinatown was vandalized with bright paint being thrown over the lion statues’ eyes(2). In addition to the vandalism of the statue, the local Chinese Cultural Centre and Garden also were victims to property damage in the same night.
To combat this, Municipalities are known to hire physical security guards to patrol the area and keep trespassers out. Unfortunately, this type of security often comes with its own set of problems. Security guards are often found to not be on site when promised, sleeping on shift, or even stealing from the same property they are hired to protect.
Remote Video Monitoring for Municipalities
Our proactive Remote Video Monitoring services are often the most effective security solution for protecting your Municipality properties. When a security concern is raised, our team of professionals rely on their years of industry experience to create a site specific plan in order to best detect and deter trespassers and vandals from your municipality owned property.
As a first line of defense, we deploy ’NoTrespassing’ and video surveillance warning signage that warn the individual that they are trespassing on an off-limits property and that their actions are being actively monitored. If the suspect fails to be deterred by the signage, they are quickly detected on our high resolution security cameras that are strategically placed in order to surveil the complete perimeter of your site. Furthermore, we can install additional cameras for monitoring key access points or areas of concern.
When our Operators detect a trespasser, they will first attempt to deter them by utilizing our powerful security peripherals. Voice commands are issued from our live communications speakers as a vocal deterrence -letting the trespasser know that they are currently being monitored, recorded, and that any illegal actions will be reported to the Police. For a visual deterrence, our blue LED deterrence strobe light is utilized to reveal the location of the suspect, as well as to direct law enforcement to specific areas of the site at night.
If the suspect cannot be deterred, our video monitoring operators will contact local law enforcement and provide them with key details such as a description of the suspect, location, and behaviour. Once the Police are dispatched, our operators will continue to gather as many details as possible, in order to further assist the Police in their apprehension and to aid in any subsequent investigations and court proceedings.
Once the threat is contained, our team will compile all of the information gathered into a timestamped Security report that is sent directly to the client with pictures and videos of the incident. This information is also accessible through our security information reporting platform, syncroReports. This platform is your Municipality’s access point to important security information such as in-depth log reports, robust analytics, and live security feeds.
Customized Security Solutions
We know that every municipality has different needs when it comes to security & technology and that is why our industry leading security solutions are completely customizable to fit your requirements. From beaches & community pools, parks & cemeteries, to storage & waste facilities, the wide array of public spaces that municipalities own and operate can be difficult to secure.
Our team are ready to design site-specific security plans, from the ground up, to provide a robust solution to the unique challenges that your Municipality faces.
Resources:
- “11 vehicles vandalized overnight at confederation Building” CBC News, August 17th, 2021
- “Vancouver’s Chinatown lions vandalized once again” CTV News, Lisa Steacy, April 10th, 2022
Very nice blog post!! Thanks for sharing this info on proactive municipality security.