Camera registry an excellent idea

Bridgwater Forest

Are you familiar with the safe camera registry recently launched by the Altona Police Service? I wasn’t either until I recently watched a news report a few days ago. The more I thought about this and the more I researched it online, the more I found the initiative to be a brilliant and completely out-of-the-box idea.

A simple program, the registry enables residents and businesses of both Altona and nearby Plum Coulee to register their cameras and contact information.

Altona is not the first municipality to launch the program. In fact, Morden also launched it earlier this year. Looking outside Manitoba ,Saint John, N.B. and Red Deer, Alta., are municipalities that have similar programs.

So, why would you want to register your camera(s)?

Simply put, it is a way to support the police in their investigation of crimes and I have to believe that it may help deter crime if those committing them realize there is a network out there collaborating with the police. By collaborating, I only helping them with data collection in their investigations. If and when a crime occurs, the police will already know who may have cameras in the vicinity and could reach out directly rather than having to go door to door.

Should Winnipeg consider the technology? Absolutely — and I say that without knowing the cost of the initiative but I can see nothing but benefits in doing so.

As residents, I can see us:

• supporting each other and our communities;

• building a stronger, engaged communities;

• contributing to a more effective police force from a cost perspective, which has a direct impact on the municipal taxes that we pay.

For the Winnipeg Police Service and ultimately the City of Winnipeg, collection of the videos and data would become an administrative task, eliminating the need for patrol officers to go door to door. Think about how that time could be spent elsewhere.

Is there an opportunity to pilot the program? Definitely and yes, we would be amongst the early adopters. I am sure we would not be alone.

No community is free of crime but we can all do our part.