Taxi robberies have plummeted since the introduction of in-car surveillance cameras and the rise in the use of debit and credit instead of cash, according to Hamilton Police.
Since 2011, when the city ended the taxi shield versus camera debate by mandating the security camera, the average number of robberies has dropped from more than 18 a year, to under five.
Even Gurdial Singh, the 29-year-old Hamilton Cab driver who was robbed by three women with a knife and a hammer—a robbery captured by the cab's surveillance camera— has seen the drop in robberies.
But despite the reduction in robberies, Singh says he would feel safer with a shield and one would have prevented what happened to him: having a knife put to his neck.
"The camera actually helps," Singh, soon to be a father, said. "They still do it… If (the robbers) can cover their face or head, they still try and do it."
"I still think the shield would be the better idea," Singh said.
Cab robberies plummet
The drop off in taxi robberies can also be attributed to less cash being in the cab. Sgt. Barry Mungar, the service's crime prevention coordinator, said it's a combination of plastic options, as well as the cameras contributing to the startling drop off.
In 2008, there were 22 robberies. Over the next three years, there were never more than 14 robberies, which Mungar attributes to less cash in the cab.
Then, the year after the camera was introduced, there were two reported robberies of taxis in Hamilton.
In an earlier interview with CBC Hamilton, Anthony Rizzuto head of Blue Line Cab agreed robberies are down and also suggested it started with less use of cash. "We're just not a target anymore. We just don't carry the cash."
The incident left Singh with a picture of who robbed him, as well as a "frustrated" feeling about the Feb. 1 incident in which he picked up three women who had their hoods on and faces covered by scarves on a night that felt like -20 C with the wind chill.
'I keep thinking about it'
When they entered the cab, one put a knife to Singh's neck, another wielded a hammer and a third robbed him of his cash, cellphone and car keys. They never figured out how the wireless key worked on his brand new SUV, and were never able to start the car.
"I keep thinking about it," Singh said.
Less than two weeks after, police released the dramatic video. They have yet to catch the suspects, and the investigation is ongoing.
Singh is expecting his first child with his wife in April. He owns and operates his taxi through Hamilton Cab, and had started driving five years ago in the height of the shield-camera debate.
When he started driving, he was on the fence between shields and cameras. After the robbery, he's a firm believer in the shield for driver safety.
"We pay for the cameras anyways," Singh said, adding the cameras cost more than a shield, more than $1,000 for hardware and installation. "Instead of that we should have paid for the shield."
He also said that drivers ending their shifts early, before the typical 4 a.m. helps.
"At night we don't feel safe at all," Singh said, adding that there is some kind of incident - a robbery, or more often, a fight.
Mungar said driving cab is "one of the most dangerous jobs," but that violent incidents are are not the norm.
"They're few and far between," Mungar said. "Far down from what it was in 2007/2008 (when cabs had more cash)."
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