Peterborough-area residents and businesses with security cameras who want to partner with police to keep communities safe can now register their cameras with the CamSafe program.
The program is a volunteer CCTV and security video registry that lets Peterborough police know where cameras are located and who to contact to request video footage.
“It’s what we’re calling Community Watch 2.0,” says acting police chief Tim Farquharson in a media release. “We all have a part to play in keeping our community safe. This program requires community participation which helps provide a stronger defence against crime including theft, arson, vandalism, and fraud.”
Those living in the City of Peterborough, Village of Lakefield, and Township of Cavan-Monaghan who have CCTV, video cameras, and doorbell cams can volunteer to create a account with the secure CamSafe registry and upload information about the cameras they have.
Police can use the registry to find out where cameras may be located in a neighbourhood and then contact the owner to ask if they can send the video to an officer.
“If there is an incident an officer can then use the secure mapping feature to see where there are cameras and then reach out to the owner to ask if they have footage available,” says Paul Notman, IT manager with the Peterborough Police Service.
VIDEO: CamSafe Program – Peterborough Police Service
Describing it as being “much like a phonebook,” police emphasize CamSafe is only a registry of camera locations and information and does not provide police with access to cameras or to footage. The registry is secure and only police have access to the information in the registry. People can delete their camera information or accounts at any time.
“The more cameras listed on the registry means potentially more information available to officers as well as time saved in the legwork required to search out active and enabled sources of video footage,” Notman says.
CamSafe was originally launched by the Belleville Police Service in 2021 in partnership with Belleville companies Alarm Systems and Floating Point and has since expanded to include other communities.
For more information about CamSafe and to register, visit www.peterboroughpolice.com/camsafe.
