 |
NEWS from the Office of Mayor James M. Baker |
|
For Immediate Release Contact: Mayor Baker And Downtown Visions Announce Expansion And Completion Of The City�s Downtown Video Safety Partnership Program Wilmington is the First City in United States to Provide Video Safety Monitoring of an Entire Downtown Business District; Camera System Has Helped to Prevent and Reduce Crime At a morning news conference today at the headquarters of Downtown Visions in Wilmington, Mayor James M. Baker announced the expansion and completion of the Wilmington Downtown Video Safety Partnership Program, making Wilmington the first City in the nation to complete the installation of a video safety monitoring system that covers its entire downtown district. The Downtown Video Safety Partnership, which includes the City of Wilmington and its Police Department, Downtown Visions, and the City�s corporate and business community, makes use of both video and audio technology to prevent crime and improve public safety in the City�s 69-square block business district. Joining Mayor Baker for today�s announcement were Marty Hageman, Executive Director of Downtown Visions, Wilmington Police Chief Michael J. Szczerba, and James Geer, Chair of the Downtown Visions Security Advisory Committee, who was instrumental in coordinating the support of Wilmington�s corporate and business community for the Downtown Video Safety Program. According to Director Hageman, the first phase of the program, activated on April 10, 2001, involved a system of 11 cameras covering an area from 8th Street north to the Brandywine River. Today�s announcement, or the activation of the second phase of the program, involves the addition of 14 new cameras that will monitor an area from 7th Street south to Martin Luther King Boulevard. In addition to the 25-camera monitoring system operated and managed by Downtown Visions, the Video Safety Partnership is augmented by more than 100 cameras that are owned and operated by scores of businesses and corporations in Downtown Wilmington. "The key to this program, which has proven to deter and reduce crime and help to change the perception of public safety in Wilmington, is its ability to offer immediate communication and coordination through the use of video images and audio connections," Mayor Baker said today. "Thanks to Downtown Visions, the Wilmington Police Department and our business partners, we continue to put criminals on notice that violations of the law in Wilmington will not be tolerated and assure residents, workers and visitors that we are absolutely committed to making Wilmington a safer, more attractive and enjoyable City." Police Chief Szczerba said today the value of the first phase of the video monitoring system can be demonstrated by a comparison of downtown crime from an 18-month period beginning in 2000 and into early 2001, prior to the start-up of Phase One of the project, to the 18-month period since April of 2001 when first 11 cameras were activated. According to statistics compiled by Wilmington Police and Downtown Visions, burglaries are down by 32%, robberies are down by 5%, shoplifting is down by 22%, and theft of automobiles has been reduced by about 20%. "We have the ability to monitor the Video Safety camera system from Police Headquarters which gives us an instant look at incidents in progress," Chief Szczerba said. "Responding officers have a better idea of what is happening, where it is happening, and who is involved. At the same time, as we receive criminal incident reports at Headquarters, we can immediately request that the Downtown Visions staff begin tracking the incident on camera, giving us a head start of sorts on an incident in progress. Our crime fighting tools have increased immensely under this system." Szczerba added. According to Director Hageman, during the 18-month period in which the first 11 cameras have been in place, the system was used more than 270 times to assist Police during incidents in progress, leading to the arrest of more than 110 criminal suspects. In addition, Hageman said trained Downtown Visions staff initiated more than 150 incidents for immediate response and investigation by Police after observing suspected criminal activity during their regular camera monitoring shifts or through street patrols that are carried out daily by Downtown Visions staff. "We are very proud of what we have accomplished by working together in Wilmington to improve public safety," said Chairperson Geer at today�s news conference. "With the second phase of the program being launched today, we are again demonstrating what can be accomplished for our City when government and business officials work in tandem with corporate security personnel and municipal law enforcement professionals to make Wilmington a more enjoyable place to live, work and visit." Mayor Baker, Chief Szczerba, Director Hageman and Chairperson Geer said the fact that Wilmington has taken such extraordinary steps to establish video monitoring for its entire downtown area should be taken as a sign that the City is extremely serious about public safety and the perception of public safety. "Urban areas like Wilmington have been plagued for far too long by a perception of crime that does not necessarily match reality," Mayor Baker said. "We are working creatively every day to tell the real story of our historic and beautiful City, and to the City�s credit, people from all walks of life are discovering why this is one of the best cities in the nation." According to Director Hageman, the total cost of the 25-camera Video Safety System is $800,000, which has been funded through appropriations by the City of Wilmington, New Castle County and State of Delaware governments as well as corporate sponsors and foundation grants. Today�s news conference included the showing of seven recorded video segments to demonstrate the range and quality of the Downtown Video Safety camera system and to show how the cameras can be directed to locate and follow suspected criminal activity in the Downtown Business District.
|
|
