Windsor has beefed up its police presence downtown, and it appears the efforts are paying off.
The City Centre Patrol Unit and the Problem Oriented Policing Unit have taken more than 2,200 calls for service in the first three months of 2019, calls that include break and enters and drug possession.
Stats from the Windsor Police Service show the units have combined to make 404 arrests.
“We're making an impact downtown,” says Deputy Chief Brad Hill. “I hope the added police officers downtown is helped to make downtown a safer more comfortable place to visit and I hope we're making a difference."
The POP unit has seen 12 new police officers on the beat in downtown Windsor, part of a promise made by Mayor Drew Dilkens last fall.
The fact is not lost on residents and business owners in the core.
“We've seen the presence, the business owners and residents feel the presence and we're happy to see some strides on the ground,” says councillor Rino Bortolin, a member of the police services board.
The POP unit has also arrested 11 suspects that have been returned to other jurisdictions.
Hill admits most of the crime activity involves drugs.
“There's certainly a drug problem and that drug problem is fed by people stealing and breaking into cars and converting items to cash so people can buy drugs and use drugs and that certainly affects our crime rates,” says Hill.
But six months into the legalization of marijuana, and the deputy chief says they have only busted four people for drug impaired driving.
Hill tells CTV Windsor the bigger problem appears to be repeat offenders.
He says police have seen an increase, so has the court system and the jail system.
The police services board is also reporting the overall crime rates are down, including violent crimes and property crimes, compared to this time last year.
Also, there were three homicide investigations in Windsor in the first three months of 2018. So far, there have been none in 2019.
