London police adopt third-party program to improve access to surveillance video

London police are encouraging businesses and homeowners to register their CCTV cameras to help with investigations. CTV’s Gerry Dewan reports.

The images have become common, video capturing thefts, vandalism, and more serious crimes. Now, London police have adopted the CAMsafe program to improve the way surveillance video can be accessed.

“The program is a voluntary program,” explained London Police Inspector Pete Testa. “They’re able to log on to a third-party, CAMsafe, and register just the location of their address and that they have a camera.”

Inspector Pete Testa stressed that the program doesn’t give police access to live video feeds. It simply improves their ability to quickly identify where they might be able to find video. He added, “Police definitely want to get as much information that’s accurate as quickly as possible.”

In most serious incidents, police officers can be seen canvassing the neighbourhood. That will often include a request for any doorbell camera and surveillance footage. But it’s not only for criminal investigations. They’ll also make the appeal for missing persons cases, including missing children or people with age-related cognitive issues.

Testa told CTV News, “If we can access these cameras the earliest possible time during investigations, the more that it’s going to benefit, again, the community, to keep them safe, to get the information out there.”

Testa added that the privacy of those that sign up for the program will be protected and that they’re not locked into the program, “Citizens need to be aware that they can take themselves off the CAMsafe website at any time. And police don’t have access to any sensitive information other than the fact that these individuals within the community have signed up for the program.”

Anyone who is interested can go to the CAMsafe website to register.