GardaWorld Security — Canada is a leading security solutions provider in Canada. With over 35,000 trained guards across ten provinces, GardaWorld Security — Canada safeguards people, assets and operations for multiple Fortune Global 500 customers nationwide.
Situation Overview
Downtown Calgary, Alberta is facing a surge in crime resulting in increased incidents at downtown properties. GardaWorld Security - Canada provides services in Calgary, specifically at ‘5th and THIRD East Village’, a mixed-use development with over 178,000 square feet of retail space, 500 residential units, and many of the nation’s largest retail brands.
The 5th and THIRD East Village property is located next to the largest homeless shelter in North America. This shelter houses thousands of the vulnerable population in Alberta. During the day, individuals are not allowed to remain in the shelter, so the majority frequent 5th and THIRD East Village retailers throughout the day.
The Challenge
James Hersey serves as Senior Account Manager at GardaWorld Security — Canada in Calgary, Alberta. He and his team oversee Southern Alberta’s largest and most strategic accounts, including 5th and THIRD.
“This specific property has always been susceptible to higher rates of incidents related to vagrancy, loitering, petty theft, and other petty crimes due to its location” explained Hersey. “However, these petty crimes led to more violent crimes and began putting those in and around the property at risk, including the GardaWorld Security — Canada team.”
As Hersey witnessed the exponential growth of crime in the area, including violent incidents against his guards, he turned to technology to help.
“Even with our great partnership with the Calgary Police Service, we aimed to better support agencies by incorporating more technology and we needed to adapt and force multiply our current security efforts with technology to deter and de-escalate these incidents without law enforcement intervention.”
The Solution
Hersey engaged with Axon to find necessary security and safety technology to ensure his team could continue to provide best-in-class security service while not being subjected to violent incidents.
I had three goals when evaluating a potential partner: reduce serious incidents through deterrence and de-escalation; capture richer, indexable evidence to expedite cases through the judicial system; and find a unifying system that simplified collaboration with Law Enforcement
-James Hersey, Account Manger, GardaWorld Security - Canada
Hersey deployed Axon Body 3 (AB3) cameras across GardaWorld Security — Canada guards at 5th and THIRD. He also deployed Axon Evidence, a digital evidence management platform, to more efficiently ingest, store and share all video evidence captured from the new body-worn cameras and existing CCTV cameras.
GardaWorld Security — Canada measures every incident and categorizes these incidents on severity scale ranging from Level 1, most severe, to Level 5, least severe. Level 1 incidents are defined as any type of incident that involves violence of any kind.
In the two months leading up to Hersey’s deployment of Axon Body 3 cameras and Axon Evidence to staff, GardaWorld Security — Canada recorded 918 incidents, including 79 Level 1 events. Of the 79 Level 1 incidents, 15 were direct assaults on GardaWorld Security — Canada guards, some of which resulted in extended hospitalizations.
The Results
Immediately after deploying Axon Body 3 and Axon Evidence, Hersey noticed a decrease in Level 1 incidents and violence against his team. The mere presence of Axon Body 3 cameras helped de-escalate incidents that had a high-likelihood of turning violent. The cameras also served as a deterrent for future crime, causing repeat offenders to return to the property less often.
Between January 11 and February 28, 2024, Level 1 Incidents dropped 58%. During this same period, only one physical assault on a GardaWorld Security — Canada guard was reported. This represents a 93% reduction of violent assaults on GardaWorld Security — Canada guards.
The initial results from our deployment have outperformed all of our goals.
-James Hersey, Account Manger, GardaWorld Security - Canada
“I noticed a difference in my first shift wearing Axon Body 3, especially when I approached people engaged in nefarious activities. In nearly every case, the suspect either left immediately upon seeing my camera or started behaving more properly when the camera was activated and recording” shared Victor Kuzek, Site Supervisor. “Maybe more importantly, wearing Axon Body 3 made me feel safer and more confident in performing my duties knowing I had the right tool to help me diffuse potentially bad situations.”
GardaWorld Security — Canada’s deployment of body-worn cameras and Axon Evidence came during an unseasonable cold front that caused temperatures to fall to below -30 degrees Celcius. This cold front drove higher incident counts, but importantly, these increases were primarily Level 4 and Level 5 non-violent incidents, specifically loitering. Hersey also attributes part of this increase to better reporting thanks
to increased evidence from the Axon Body 3 cameras themselves. Even with the slight increase in total incidents, GardaWorld Security — Canada saw massive success in their initial Axon Body 3 deployment.
Prior to the deployment, Level 1 incidents accounted for 9% of total incidents, with assaults on GardaWorld Security — Canada guards accounting for 2% of all incidents. After deploying AB3, Level 1 incidents dropped to less than 2% of total incidents, and assaults on GardaWorld Security — Canada dropped to 0.1% of the total. AB3 proved to be extremely successful at de-escalating potentially violent incidents.
Conclusion
Hersey and his team were so thrilled with the results of their initial body-worn camera program that they recently made the decision to expand their investment in the Axon Ecosystem, and have outfitted GardaWorld Security — Canada guards with Axon Body 4, Axon’s latest-generation body-worn camera.
Axon Body Cameras are an invaluable tool for our team and should be evaluated for all those in the guarding services industry.
-James Hersey, Account Manger, GardaWorld Security - Canada
Axon Body 4 features an optional POV accessory to capture incidents from different angles, fast-charging capabilities to ensure cameras last all shift, and bi-directional communications capabilities which allow wearers to speak directly with support teams and medical personnel in real-time, increasing situational awareness.
With Axon, Hersey is confident his team will continue to provide top-notch security while ensuring their safety.
Reduce crime and keep your staff safer with Axon. Learn more at axon.com/enterprise.
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