Downtown area crime has dipped 11 percent
In the three months of having ambassadors patrolling downtown, the area has seen an 11 percent reduction in crime and a 10 percent dip in violations of city ordinances.
City commissioners on Monday were updated on the program, which launched Aug. 1 with a $725,000 budget.
The 17 ambassadors are stationed throughout the downtown area from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and wear gray uniforms accented with bright green. They’re tasked with giving directions to visitors, providing safety escorts, reporting suspicious activity and curbing aggressive panhandling.
Downtown Development Board Director Thomas Chatmon said Orlando Police can’t directly attribute the drop to ambassadors, but that the extra eyes and ears have proven beneficial to law enforcement.
“Our people are well trained, they know they’re not police officers, they’re not enforcers of the law, they’re not to attempt to enforce the law,” Chatmon said. “But they’re extensions those entities.”
“You have more eyes and ears out there, and we can interact of all real time,” he said.
The program is a two-year pilot after the city agreed to a contract with Block by Block, which operates in more than 100 municipalities nationwide.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer applauded the early results of the ambassadors.
“It’s nice to make an investment and see some measurable results in terms of the crime reduction,” Dyer said.
Here are some other key numbers officials used to evaluate the ambassadors:
Orlando officials have said socalled “aggressive” panhandling has been on the rise downtown, which business owners have said could be a deterrent when customers are choosing where to go