FAQ

The Campbell Watchguards will be patrolling the district in vehicles marked with “Campbell Security Group” emblazoned on the sides of the vehicle. The purpose of the patrols is to be highly visible. In the evenings, you may notice vehicles with police blue lights patrolling the streets. This again is to help make the patrols visible to all.

CSG will be patrolling the district on a daily flexible schedule to prevent predictive scheduling. Due to budget constraints they will not be patrolling 24/7, but we are making sure that they are both visible to you, the residents, and any bad actors that come into the neighborhood.

Any officer working the Holly Hills SBD detail is required to be a state licensed law enforcement officer. This means they may be a SLMPD Officer, a licensed Sheriff’s Deputy, or a licensed St. Louis Park Ranger. All Watchguards working our detail are fully licensed law enforcement officers, and CSG’s primary role in Holly Hills is crime deterrence. This also means we are getting the highest qualified officers available working in our neighborhood.  

The Safety & Security Committee, made up of 13 HHSBD neighbors, has been working since February to come up with the requirements for a security contractor. Following a 30 day open bidding process, in which all firms that provide security services in St. Louis were invited to bid, CSG was the sole firm to bid. Despite being the only firm to bid, the Safety & Security Committee deliberated over 3 weeks debating and discussing their bid. The Committee then interviewed high level representatives from CSG for over an hour, before ultimately voting unanimously to recommend to the SBD Board that the CSG bid be accepted. At the May 2023 Board meeting, the Board voted unanimously to execute a contract for security services with CSG.  

If you witness a crime in progress, CALL 911. Our officers will be carrying their radios and listening in. When they hear a call for a crime in progress within Holly Hills, they will respond to that area. Additionally, putting the call for service into the 911 system creates a record with the city that a crime has occurred, and this helps the police department determine where their regular patrols occur. 

No! As with all services provided by the SBD (Special Business District), it is against state law for the city to reduce any services to Holly Hills because of the existence of the SBD. If you ever feel like your services are being reduced because of the SBD, contact your local elected officials to express your concerns. 

AwareNet is the name of the software program created to consolidate notifications from security cameras within a designated area.

AwareNet relies on private individuals purchasing cameras and agreeing to provide access to the notifications to a centralized source. The idea, as it was intended in St. Louis Hills, was to have a security officer receive the notifications on a mobile device such as a tablet, review the footage from that notification, determine if the footage presented evidence of suspicious activity, and respond accordingly when suspicious activity was identified.

Each camera would be bought by a resident or business. They own and operate the camera. The camera is configured to send alerts automatically through the AwareNet program to the tablet.

The HHSBD is opting to not play a role in organizing an AwareNet program here. If private citizens wished to implement it in Holly Hills, 2+ individuals or a previously organized group would need to agree to implement it, and make contact with Tom Scheifler to implement it.

• Only the camera owner has access to the live video for their camera.
• Only the camera owner has access to the recorded video that is stored on the camera.
• The camera owner controls the schedule for sending automatic alerts to the officer.
• The camera owner can create “privacy masks” (aka black boxes) to protect the privacy of nearby neighbors that are in the field of view for the camera.
• The camera owner controls whether audio is recorded along with the video.
• The video clips sent to the officer are automatically deleted after 15 days unless the alert has been categorized by the officer as unusual, suspicious, or criminal.

The cost is generally limited to the purchase of a compatible camera and a small monthly fee to the owner of the AwareNet software (around $1-$2 per month per household). Tom Scheifler has offered the software for free to neighborhoods in the City, but the monthly fee covers the server cost that hosts the software.

STLHNA hired Campbell Security & Services Group, the same firm hired by the Holly Hills Special Business District.

Depending on internet connectivity of both the camera and the receiving tablet, a notification would appear on the tablet on average between 1-2 minutes after the live event took place.

Per representatives from Campbell Security, the officers on duty will review notification alerts received on a tablet. This is to be performed when they are not in a moving vehicle, where it is safe to review a mobile device. The officer will click on each notification, review the video clip produced by the notification, and classify the clip as “Unremarkable”, “Suspicious”, or “Criminal”.