Non-profit Downtown Columbus Inc. announced the beginning of a partnership with the City of Columbus, the Columbus Division of Police and downtown businesses called 鈥淪afer Downtown.鈥�
The program, headquartered in the Lazarus Building, will include 24/7 surveillance of downtown areas.
The initiative, announced Tuesday morning, accesses the existing security cameras of both public and private areas.
One of the main priorities of the program is to reduce property crime. After Covid, most crime decreased, but property crimes, such as car break-ins, increased downtown.
鈥淚n the past, the police might show up and by the time they're there, the perpetrators moved on and they can't do anything about it, but in this instance, you can just follow cameras and feeds where that person may or may not be going,鈥� said Greg Davies, CEO of Downtown Columbus Inc.
Davies said he hopes that the program will reassure people who are returning to work at offices in the downtown area.
鈥淭he city and the businesses and our organization just felt like we weren't going to be able to encourage and get people to come back downtown until they felt that it was safe,鈥� Davies said.
The program will be staffed by private security and have a direct line to Columbus police. The program also hopes to add security cameras in the downtown area.
Columbus police announced plans in 2023 to create a real time crime surveillance center with access to private security feeds to monitor areas city wide. The facility is scheduled to open during the first quarter of 2028.