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Municipal recreation centre ยท Hamilton
Recreation Centre Security: $137,000 in Vandalism Stopped in Hamilton
How a Hamilton community recreation centre ended vandalism and kept its programs open with community-friendly monitoring.
- $137KVandalism prevented
- 91%Resolved by voice warning
- 0Closures from damage
The challenge
What was going wrong
- $125,000 in vandalism damage over 18 months
- 47 parking lot break-ins
- About $5,000 a month in cleanup
- Graffiti, equipment theft and growing safety concerns
Over a holiday long weekend: $18,000 in damage, spray-painted walls and a damaged playground. The facility closed for 4 days, summer camps were affected and it made the local news.
What we put in place
Public facility assessment
15 blind spots found, parking lot coverage reviewed, community input on problem areas.
Coverage
26 new cameras (38 in total) on every entrance, the lot, sports fields and playground.
Community-focused approach
Calm, progressive voice warnings, links to Hamilton Police, educational signage.
Monitoring strategy
24/7 with focus on 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., different protocols for adults and youth, alerts to the facility manager.
The results
What changed
First 6 months
- 43 after-hours incidents detected
- 39 resolved by voice warnings (90%)
- Zero vandalism incidents
- No closures
After 18 months
- 89 incidents detected
- 81 resolved by warnings (91%)
- $137,000 in vandalism prevented
- Zero closures from damage
- Summer camp enrolment up 42%, program attendance up 34%
Incident example
A typical evening, 10:45 p.m.
Four teenagers enter the closed playground.
- Analytics detect four people in the playground after hours
- First warning: the facility is closed and reopens at 9 a.m., please leave now
- Second warning: you are trespassing on city property, leave immediately
- The group leaves. No police needed. Parents are contacted the next day.
Financial impact
The numbers
| Annual monitoring cost | $28,800 |
|---|---|
| Vandalism prevented (18 months) | $137,000 |
| Increased rental revenue | $68,000 a year |
| Total benefit (18 months) | Over $250,000 |
“As a public facility, we needed security that was both effective and community-friendly. Supreme delivered on both. We eliminated vandalism without criminalizing youth, and we did it at a fraction of the cost of hiring guards.”
Service used: Remote video monitoring
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