Security

Public Safety Initiatives

Clean and Safe has long played a central role in place management, but public safety has taken on increasing importance amidst the protracted return to work, increases in homelessness, and efforts to square law enforcement practices with demands for social justice.

Principals & Practices of Operations

Operations in place management covers a wide scope of work from cleaning and maintenance to providing on-street services addressing safety and quality of life issues. For new professionals to be successful in their role as operations staff they need to have an understanding of building and running a successful operations program that caters to the unique challenges and opportunities in their districts.

Breaking New Ground for Safety Operations

Learn from three operations practitioners and their strategies for ambassador training, hiring licensed security, off-duty police officers and how the built environment can help to deter crime.

A Tale of Three Cities Fueling Recovery

This presentation focused on three cities (San Francisco, Berkeley, and Los Angeles) and how they identified challenges the pandemic presented to their downtowns and strategies being implemented to fuel the recovery. Challenges include the increase of homelessness and violence related to the civil unrest; lack of pedestrian traffic and downtown workers; and the role safety, security and cleaning played during the pandemic. Learn what strategies were implemented and positive outcomes achieved. 

Advancing Places: Public Safety Roundtable 

Public safety has always been at the forefront of the work of UPMOs. The reality and perception of crime in dense urban districts continue to impact the return of workers and vibrancy in the urban core. IDA is inventorying best practices and trends and will publish findings from this discussion and other data collection. Participants will be split into breakout rooms to maximize discussion time. Please note: the breakout rooms of this discussion were not recorded. 

Agility in the Face of Uncertainty

When the SA Government implemented one of the harshest lockdown responses to Covid-19 in the world, fear and confusion prevailed. The CCID, which operates in downtown Cape Town, sprang into action, agilely changing the operational strategy of 3 departments to meet the needs of a deserted downtown

Advancing Places: Successful Ambassador Teams

As districts enter into the open-for-business phase, it’s important to know the types of services that downtown and neighborhood districts should consider offering to local stakeholders. From safety and security to hospitality and outreach, district service programs can ensure businesses, residents and visitors are taken care of. Join this webinar and hear from two practitioners who are offering different types of programs and how services are unique to each districts’ needs.

Project Spotlight: Technology in Your Community

Learn about data driven and predictive urban management and public safety. Working in partnership with global security service provider Securitas SA, the Voortrekker Road CID has built and managed its own centralized control center through which all reporting is processed into a powerful response database. In Downtown DC the BID worked with Cube 84 to integrate the BID’s Salesforce-based database with 311, the District of Columbia’s non-emergency hotline.

Lateefah Simon Master Talk

Lateefah Simon is a 20-year veteran organizer for racial justice in Oakland and the Bay Area. She has been the President of the Akonadi Foundation since 2016. That same year—driven by the death of Oscar Grant—she ran and was elected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board of Directors—of which she now serves as President.

Coordination and Communication Lessons Learned from Civil Unrest

Urban place management organizations around the would have faced many challenges during 2020. Many districts have seen significant protest activity as many around the world speak up against inequality and for social change. This session will discuss coordination and communication lessons learned from Minneapolis and Washington, DC. No one city has all the answers in how best to prepare and respond, so this session will also feature time to learn from each other.

Public Safety Alternatives

Public safety reforms can be a polarizing conversation, but it is not one we should avoid. Rather, we should face the challenge, embrace the conversation and look at alternatives to providing safety. When we do so, we will find a plethora of programs that address the problems our urban districts face. Please join us as we explore three unique programs addressing sobriety and diversion, mental health and reducing violence by using disease control and behavior methods.

Data-driven/Predictive Urban Management and Public Safety for a Safer City

This project focuses on how the power of technology can be harnessed to streamline and empower urban management practices for greater accuracy and better outcomes. Working in partnership with global security service provider Securitas SA, the VRCID invested in advanced technology to extend its surveillance. It is one of a handful of improvement districts in South Africa to build and manage its own centralised control centre through which all reporting is processed into a response database.

Transformation of 16th Street Mall

While considered the spine of downtown Denver, by 2016, the Mall’s image had become one of a place overrun by homeless and violent individuals. Comments on social media and media reports led to a general perception that the Mall was lost to crime and homelessness and not a place to visit. However, what most of the public did not realize was that the Downtown Denver Partnership had already been working with stakeholders to develop a Security Action Plan (SAP).

What’s Our Real Role With Homelessness

Work with representatives from Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions to strategize what is truly a BID’s role in homelessness?

Recruiting, Training, Coordinating Clean Safe Teams

This session provides a behind the scenes look at what it takes to staff, train and coordinate the work of Clean, Safe & Outreach programs in our dynamic city centers. Discussion topics include data collection, efficiency, building partnerships and creating employee pipelines.

Managing the Nighttime Economy

A strong Nighttime Economy is made up of more than just a string of restaurants and bars in close proximity. A variety of experiences must be available in order for districts and communities to encourage visitors to linger and visit multiple entertainment options. However, what is even more vital are the often overlooked things. Discuss how Ops teams provide the foundation through infrastructure and amenity management that encourage strong nighttime economy opportunities.   

Lights, Creative Economy, Action!

Ever wonder what it takes to put on a great event that fundamentally dials up your downtown revival efforts? Hear from practitioners who are executing innovative placemaking strategies that drive economic development and engage the creative economy – both day and night.

The Power of International Partnership

Ahead of Mayflower 400, the downtown orgs in Baltimore, MD and Southampton, UK have “twinned” with each other after meeting at the World Towns Leadership Summit in Berlin. With a mirrored history of waterfront regeneration, the two organizations have identified common themes and shared, knowledge, ideas, staff, and artists. The Japan Area Management Network will review its new collaboration with Singapore and South Korea on common issues and opportunities resulting from the summit in Tokyo.

DVBIA’s Ambassador Dashboard

The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) created a bespoke electronic dashboard to monitor and inform the DVBIA’s Clean & Safe team’s operations using collected data. The metrics on the dashboard focused on safety-related actions and observations such as reported theft from autos, open drug use, graffiti, and illegal encampments. The dashboard positively impacted the Clean & Safe team’s operations and accountability while also boosting the team’s morale.

Former Mayor Edwin Lee Master Talk

Before passing in 2017, Edwin Lee was an American politician and attorney who served as the 43rd Mayor of San Francisco, and was the first Asian American to hold the office.

Tim Tompkins – San Francisco

Tim Tompkins has been the President of the Times Square Alliance since 2002. The Alliance is a business improvement district that works to improve and promote Times Square – cultivating the creativity, energy and edge that have made the area an icon of entertainment, culture and urban life for over a century. Prior to coming to the Alliance, he was the Founder and Director of Partnerships for Parks, which works to support New York City’s neighborhood parks.

Improving Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness

The Golden Triangle BID, adjacent to the White House and in the heart of Washington’s central business district, has a unique understanding of the post 9-11 paradigm and has responded by creating a safety, security, and emergency preparedness program that is rapidly becoming a national model. The foundational strategy of the Golden Triangle’s program is to engage regularly with building management and the community about security and preparedness.

Top Issues Council: Downtown Districts at the Table – Planning for Safety and Security

The 2017 IDA Top Issues Council on Safety and Security has developed this guide as a tool for strategic safety planning for urban place management organizations. The council studied the latest crime trends districts face, examined how a district management organization’s role in emergency response and crime prevention has grown, and explored how technology is revolutionizing communication between law enforcement agencies and the business community.

Top Issues Council: Nighttime Economy

After decades of decline and flight from center city districts and neighborhoods in North America, many cities’ central cores are enjoying a modern-day renaissance. Throughout this transition, urban place management organizations have employed a variety of strategies to attract investment and increase opportunities for the surrounding community. This report provides a guide for nighttime districts to regularly reference as they face and address challenges to supporting a nighttime economy.

Resilience on the Street – Preparing for the Unexpected

Communities around the United States have been rocked by unthinkable disasters, realizing only after the fact that an Emergency Operation Plan may have helped mitigate losses. This presentation walks through the immediate and rippling economic and social effects of active threat situations.

Nighttime Economy: A Guide for Emerging, Growing and Established Downtowns

The members of the Nighttime Economy Top Issues Council will present their findings and explain their process in the drafting of the various facets of a healthy nighttime economy. Delve deeper into the four main topics discussed in the final Top Issues Council report: Nighttime Infrastructure, Social and community safety, Activation and Engagement, and Quality of Life Mitigation.

Community Policing and Partnerships: A Canadian Perspective

Urban center organizations are increasingly impacted by social street issues and while they cannot solve such complex social problems, it is vital that BIAs/BRZs/BIDs are involved in the discussions. Forming partnerships with the municipalities, local police, community and social organizations is the foundation to educate and foster understanding around such issues, and to begin to develop strategies and solutions for issues like homelessness and safety.

Active Threat Preparedness for your District

Lessons from previous active threat events illustrate the need to build a more comprehensive approach beyond the average 15 minutes it takes for the perpetrator to be neutralized. Pre-event, immediate response, and recovery activities need to be more thoughtfully considered to fully grasp the complex and dynamic nature of the spectrum of active threat events. This presentation will explore elements of an active threat event.

Downtown Districts at the Table: Top Safety Topics of 2017

Every thriving downtown community requires public safety. As downtown centers become re-populated with residents crime has shifted to include dangerous behaviors. Police forces have been thinning and patrols may not be as commonplace. More city centers are destinations for major events, which may also make them targets. How do districts plan for public safety? As a part of IDA’s Top Issues Council, the Safety & Security team explored this topic and more.

Safety and Security Webinar

Every thriving community requires public safety. Now that your downtown center has become re-vitalized, it’s important to protect the investment within your district. Members of IDA’s Top Issues Council on Safety & Security explore the topics of planning for public safety and capitalizing on available resources to keep your downtown safe.