Police seek collaboration with citizen surveillance

The Boulder police department is seeking to form a partnership with the community that might help solve more crimes in less time.

Residents and businesses that have security cameras — the number has increased considerably in the last three years due to affordability and ease of use — can sign up to be on a police department roster. When crime and vandalism occurs, the police spend valuable time canvassing surrounding neighbors and business to see if they have security cameras to help solve the crimes.

The new partnership could speed up investigations, plus help bring more criminals to justice, by knowing ahead of time where cameras are located. According to a news release by the Boulder Police Department, many times the best available evidence isn’t of the crime itself, but of pathways and streets leading into and out of the scene.

Participation in the partnership program is completely voluntary, and Boulder police would not have the ability to freely access citizens’ cameras, claim ownership nor dictate the camera system’s function.

According to the Boulder Police, the officers would simply use the roster as a tool to see who may have captured footage of a nearby crime. If the department believed that, based on the location of an incident, a nearby camera has captured something of interest, they would simply request the video footage from the date and time of the incident.

For more information on the program, visit http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/police/neighborhood-surveillance-camera-program