GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Homeowners and businesses in Grand Rapids can now register their security cameras with the police department to help solve crimes.
The Grand Rapids Police Department launched a security camera database on Tuesday. People can submit their addresses, contact information and descriptions of where they have camera on their properties.
“There are tens of thousands of cameras in the city of Grand Rapids,” said Sgt. Catherine Williams, spokesperson for GRPD. “That’s really untapped resources to help solve crimes.”
Officers will not have a direct feed to security cameras under the new system, Williams said.
“[It’s] a database that we can keep, for law enforcement only, to know where those cameras are,” she said. “So if a crime does occur, we can quickly get to that home or business and ask to view that video."
The new system is especially important to people like Michael Wright, whose truck and shed were set on fire on June 30 outside his home on Pine Avenue NW. His security cameras captured the entire incident.
“We’ve been able to get a clearer photo of the suspect,” Wright said. “I could enhance the picture so it zooms in. I could take still photos.”
The footage helped provide a lead, but police haven’t located the arsonist. Wright’s landlord fixed his shed, but he lost his truck.
“I think everybody should get cameras,” Wright said. “If everybody has cameras, you can catch the guy when he thinks he’s safe after he’s committed the crime. He’d get picked up on a few cameras. That way you can get a better quality picture and narrow it down.”
The database is an easy tool that furthers the working relationship between the police and the community, Williams said.
“This is an opportunity, free to everyone including the police department, to be able to [collaborate] or reducing, and even preventing, crime in their neighborhood.”
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