With crime growing in downtown Windsor and increased calls for more police patrols, Windsor's police chief says the situation will get better in the new year.
Chief Al Frederick said help is on the way with a dozen new officers joining the ranks in a few months, if council approves them, and the downtown unit being beefed up by 12 uniforms. Meantime, he said, there are extra officers being deployed to the downtown. His response comes after a downtown bar owner posted on Facebook how fed up he is with the rash of thefts from parked vehicles in the University Avenue. and Victoria Avenue area over the past few months.
The bar owner said he has been a victim and puts the blame squarely on drug addiction and mental health issues, which he added is not being addressed in Windsor. He said he is planning to start his own late night patrols to curb crime in his area.
Chief Frederick warned against it and said citizen patrols are too risky and unsafe. He recommended calling police instead.
"Do I suggest that people go out on foot patrol for that purpose, absolutely not," said Frederick.
Frederick said this is a complex situation that needs a lot of collaboration and comes with trial and error.
"Yes, we are looking to increase patrols and increase a lot of different things. We are going to use some technologies [although he wouldn't elaborate]," said the chief.
Frederick said police calls in the downtown core have changed a lot over the last two years because there are more drugs involved instead of alcohol.
"This is a different dynamic. These are complex issues that are not just a police response, an arrest or a ticket issued. It's a much more comprehensive approach to this," Frederick said.
The chief cited one big reason for the lack of visible patrols -- monthly police calls have gone up by 248 on average to 2,408. Around 80% of the calls are non-criminal calls, Frederick said, which take many officers away from their patrols for several hours.
Windsor police said on average there are 23.4 thefts from parked vehicles in the core each month so far this year compared to 20 from 2013 to last year.
Chief Frederick said property crimes in downtown Windsor are also up with a total of 1126 reported so far this year compared to a total of 1095 reported during the same period last year.
He said there are several community partnerships that are making a big difference in supporting officers deal with situations such as suicide and homelessness but admits more could be done.
