Register your surveillance camera to aid law enforcement

GOSHEN — Private citizens who use video surveillance camera at their homes or businesses may now register them in an effort to help law enforcement.
Registration will make it possible for police to contact the camera owner if they believe it may have captured a crime.
Participation in the program is strictly voluntary, said Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler at the Orange County Chamber of Commerce breakfast held Sept. 8. The new Community Camera Partnership Program will store information from registrants its Video Camera Law Enforcement Portal, a secure website accessible only by the county’s law enforcement agencies. Police will use the database to see which surveillance cameras might have recorded a crime they're investigating. Surveillance cameras may record the perpetrators before the crime or fleeing from the scene, or other relevant evidence.
No one will be able to access the cameras remotely or without the express consent of the owners,said Hoovler.
Camera owners may electronically register their system at ocdacams.com.
Hoovler commended his office's investigators for creating the video camera database and public website.
“Evidence obtained on video security cameras have proven to be one of the best methods of apprehending criminals and convicting defendants who are caught in the act of committing a crime,” said Hoovler. “The more information we have about a crime, the more likely it is that we will be able to bring perpetrators to justice, and to exonerate the innocent, a goal which is in everyone’s best interest."