Quinte West OPP have joined the CAMSafe program, an initiative started by Belleville Police earlier this year.
Residents and businesses with security cameras are encouraged to join the community CCTV video registry.
Constable Devin Leeworthy calls it a sort of phone book for police to use to locate cameras within a community.
“For instance, if a crime occurs on a street in Quinte West, officers can log into CAMSafe and they can see all the cameras that are registered on CAMSafe within that area. The officer can reach out to that resident and request to view any security footage if it would be beneficial to the investigation.”
Constable Leeworthy says it is a voluntary program and police do not have free access to camera footage.
“All they’ll be asked to provide is just name, phone number, address. Basic details and their contact information. They can put as much or as little information as they like. For instance, if you have a doorbell camera, you can input that you have a doorbell camera. If they wish, they can put what direction it’s facing.”
Members can also delete their information from the registry at any time.
For more information go to CAMSafe.ca.
