Project Greenlight could be online in downtown Windsor by late spring

Project Greenlight to install more security cameras in the downtown core. CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum has details.

City council is giving the “green light” to a program designed to put more security cameras in downtown Windsor.

During Monday’s council meeting, the council voted to approve awarding Security ONE Alarm Systems of Windsor with the job of purchasing and installing commercial-grade security cameras and video monitoring services as part of a program called ‘Project Greenlight.’

The program will provide a payment of up to $5,000 per approved business for the installation of live monitoring cameras, but approved businesses will need to sign a contract with Security ONE Alarm Systems to maintain, operate, and monitor the cameras, which will have real-time monitoring capabilities, including two-way communication with sound and geofencing technology for potential trespass detection.

An upper limit of $450,000 has been set for the program that could result in up to 90 cameras being installed and online downtown.

Commissioner of Corporate Services Andrew Daher says a lot of business owners are excited about this program.

“They’re well aware of this program coming out, and with this attention and approval, which is a really big step, to move past the four pilot locations and put it actually into play is going to be really, really important,” he says.

A pilot initiative called Project SafeStreets was launched in August 2023 and saw four surveillance cameras installed at various downtown locations. Each camera was marked with a green blinking beacon to ensure public visibility, something that will continue with the expansion of the program.

Once the contracts between Security ONE Alarm and the city are finalized, interested businesses will be required to make a formal application to the city, followed by a review to ensure that all eligibility criteria are met, including the location of the business within the boundaries of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association.

Daher says while it will be ‘first come, first served,’ they will also evaluate the coverage area of the cameras.

“We will have to look at all the applications at once, and as I mentioned to council today, if we have two businesses working side by side and submitting, we don’t want to duplicate the coverage, so we want to make sure that we’re as efficient as possible,” he says.

The city will not have direct access to the security feed, and if law enforcement requires access to the video, they would have to follow a process to get permission from the business to see the footage.