The first quarterly report on downtown patrols for 2019 is encouraging for Windsor police.
During the Windsor Police Service Board meeting Thursday afternoon at police headquarters, statistics concerning the additional patrols added to the downtown core through the service's Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) unit and City Centre Patrol section were released, and according to Deputy Chief Brad Hill, the numbers show that the extra officers are making a difference.
"We've made over 400 arrests in the first three months of 2019, so it's certainly substantial to what it was a year ago," said Hill. "I believe that we're making an impact. We've heard a lot of very positive comments from community members in regards to seeing police officers downtown and seeing them downtown at the casino."
According to stats released by WPS, the City Centre Patrol unit handled 3,127 different classifications in the first quarter, ranging from a wide variety of charges and other calls for service. Of those, 202 people were arrested. Under the POP Unit, 980 different actions were recorded and coincidentally, another 202 people were arrested by officers in that unit.
The city began assigning a dozen additional officers to the downtown area last summer, in response to growing concerns about crime in the core. Hill said another group of officers were approved by Windsor City Council.
Despite the increased number of arrests in the core, conditions in the court system still dictate to a certain extent how long police can hold suspects for, acknowledged Hill. However, the deputy chief said they're redoubling their efforts concerning repeat offenders.
"Our property crime unit will focus on repeat offenders," said Hill. "When we see that certain people are in custody, our break-and-enters will go down. When those people are released from custody, those break-and-enters will go up. But because we know they're getting released from custody, that gives us an opportunity to focus on them."
