Kent launches program for residents to register home surveillance video
KENT, Wash. - Do you have surveillance videos at your home? If so, Kent Police say you could play a key role in helping them solve more crime.
The department announced the launch of a new program aimed to help investigators have a road map of where cameras are located in the city, so when crimes occur, they can work on getting surveillance video faster.
"Video is an enormous help in our investigations. Trespassing, malicious mischief, suspicious circumstances-all the way to homicides," says Kent PD Assistant Chief Jarod Kasner.
With the quality and prevalence of surveillance cameras continuing to rise, Kent police started brainstorming ways to make the process more efficient.
"If there's no footprint on where we can go look for cameras, then we have to go what I would call old school and basically walk around and look for cameras in the area," says Kasner.
Canvassing areas for surveillance cameras can take away precious time in an investigation, especially as some cameras wipe their footage quickly.
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"Unfortunately there have been cases where we've missed it by a day and the retention is gone and it recycles the camera footage, and we've missed potential footage that would've been valuable."
The Safecam program invites the public to help in solving crimes by registering their camera on the site.
"We can’t log in into your cameras and watch. It’s a purely systematic way to know where cameras are located."
Kasner says a huge misconception is registering your camera means you’re giving police access to them.
"We won’t have access into cameras, we can’t access footage or live views."
Kasner says the program is just so police know where cameras that might have captured important footage are located and if they’re working.
"We would then contact the owner of the camera and say we're conducting an investigation, we see that you logged into our site and you potentially have a camera that may have footage."
Kasner says it will also be hugely helpful to know how long individual security videos keep footage before wiping clean.
Renton Police say they've successfully been using a similar program for the last two years. Police hope it will be a way they can partner with community members to keep the streets safer.
If you are having any issues registering with the Safecam program or have any questions, you can reach out to Stacy Judd at sjudd@kentwa.gov or Sara Wood at swood@kentwa.gov.
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