#5. Video Surveillance

In Denville Township, New Jersey the local police department is asking it's residents and businesses to enlist their surveillance cameras into a registry that will allow the department to ask for copies of footage should they need it for any investigations. 

According to the Capt. Keith Partin, they aren't looking to watch what people are doing at all times, but to have the ability to ask for footage during certain times of certain days to help add some perspective to any given investigation. 

In recent years, surveillance has been a big part in solving cases. In 2013, it was surveillance footage that caught the Boston Marathon Bombers.

Having businesses register their cameras would also be a great help. There was a case in which a man was believed to have murdered his wife, and it was the Lowe's surveillance footage that caught him buying the murder weapon (a hammer.)

The use of the cameras around town is to create some sort of Virtual Crime Watch. If the businesses and residents agree, it could help police catch criminals in whatever areas the footage might have been caught. So far only 6 surveillance owners have registered but they hope to get more on their side. 

The general idea is to have a virtual version of a neighborhood watch. Similar ideas have sparked in other towns and has proved beneficial to the department. Residents and Businesses registered are allowed to refuse to show the footage according to many police interviews. 

ORIGINAL STORY