Windsor mayor forgets to lock car, posts video of alleged thief rummaging through his vehicle

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens circulated security camerafootage Wednesday, showing a man allegedly stealing items fromone of the mayor'scars.

"Rule of thumb lock your car door at night," reads an excerpt from a July 17 tweet. "Sometimes we forget. Then a thief stops by at 3 am. Anyone recognize this guy?"

The footage shows a man trying to open the car doors of two vehicles parked side-by-side. After failing to access a silver minivan, he's able to enter thewhite SUV parked beside it.

The man spends approximately one minute rummaging through the contents of the vehicle, before exiting with what appears to be a white shopping bag.

In a July 17 Facebook post, Windsor's mayor called on residents able to identify the man in the footage to alert the police.

"Can you help police catch this thief? If you recognize this person please call police," wrote Dilkens.

Windsor police public information officer Sgt. Steve Betteridgesaid that residents who record or witness a crime should report evidence to the police.

"Get that information to the police, whether they're an eyewitness, whether they have some video surveillance," said Betteridge, who added that video surveillance can also include footage recorded from a personal video recording devices, such assmartphones.

"If they capture something on their cellphone that they think maybe has evidence of a crime, we encourage number one to report that, number two to get that video evidence specifically to us, so we can assist in investigating that crime."

Refrain from posting footage online: privacy commissioner

It's worth noting that there are no provincial privacy rules preventing homeowners from posting potential crime footage to social media.

"However, we recommend that they report it to the police but refrain from sharing on social media," said Brian Beamish, Ontario's information and privacy commissioner, in an email. "Sharing footage on social media can lead to misidentification of innocent individuals resulting in negative impacts to their personal reputation."

Still, Beamish added that certain Ontario municipalities enforceby-laws governing the use and placement of private security systems, like home security cameras.

He pointed to Hamilton, Ont., which maintained a by-law in January 2019 banning private CCTV cameras from pointing at city streets.

"In our view, that decision allows for a good balance between the security of property owners and the privacy of the public," wrote Beamish. "It is a good blueprint for other municipalities that want to regulate private CCTVcameras."

Windsor has no such by-law in place, and the mayor's footage did not show a city street.