We have all seen in the news recently the so called "porch pirates" that have been caught by home and business owners arming themselves with privately owned security cameras and doorbell style cameras. As these cameras are becoming more popular and affordable, law enforcement is finding these to be a great resource in tracking down criminals and securing evidence to be used in the prosecution of these offenders. We are not only catching the porch pirates in the act, but because of the fisheye lens and the night vision capabilities we can capture vehicles being driven by the actors and the routes by which they are traveling.
The North Coventry Township Police Department has always conducted a neighborhood canvas after an incident looking for witnesses to interview, evidence and trying to spot cameras which could have recorded the incident. Now with our CrimeWatch software, we have the capability of setting up a voluntary registry that would plot the camera locations on mapping software to aid officers and investigators when time is of the essence and leads are few. We know there have been cases of child luring, finding Alzheimer's patients and traffic incidents which all have been solved because of these cameras.
We hope that you, our residents and business owners will take advantage of the registry and volunteer to be part of this program. We have now uploaded a form for the Voluntary Camera Registration which can be accessed here. The form will advise the officers of the system and location of the cameras around your home or business. The database of this information will always remain confidential and you would only be contacted should the video recordings be of any value to an open or active investigation. At no time would the North Coventry Township Police Department have access to your live feed or any of your recordings without your authorization. We are excited to partner with the community in using this new technology which we believe will help to protect your families, businesses and our community.
Form can also be accessed HERE
