Executive summary

Safety context

Safety and security are closely interrelated concepts that pertain to protection of lives and assets. Security is the broader concept that involves having the infrastructure (both physical and social) in place creating the context for safety.

Safety is the experience of being free from risk of harm, and the knowledge and preparation to deal with risk when it arises.

We focused on the security and safety risks related to eight (8) downtown (including two (2) municipal parking garages) City of Windsor properties.

Safety numbers for the eight sites

• Over 800 employees are accommodated across these City properties.
• Three (3) properties also accommodates third party tenants.
• One (1) property is close to downtown where City Hall staff park their vehicles.
• Across these properties, there are eleven (11) cash stations related to multiple services.
• Six (6) properties offer after hour supervision by guards.
• Ten (10) security service provider staff are assigned across seven (7) properties and increased when required.
• Eleven (11) City supervisors are assigned across these properties for general supervision and safety awareness.
• Over 100 Duress (panic) buttons and around 250 cameras are installed across these properties.
• Subsequent to this audit, one (1) library branch was opened in the downtown area.

Project purpose 

We conducted an assessment of the internal controls and processes, assessment management has implemented to achieve the three objectives related to Security Incident Prevention and Mitigation managed by the City of Windsor (the City). These related to:

• resource allocation and safety programs;
• event and incident monitoring; and
• training/awareness.

Specific scope, objectives and exclusions are described in Appendix B.

What we did

To conduct our work we completed various activities to achieve our objectives by covering three (3) risk domains including Workplace, Occupation, and Services. Our activities included, but were not limited to:

• Compiled a list of site inspection requirements based on City policies/procedures as well as good practices and visited two (2) sites (2 different times of the day) to determine if these practices were in place.