PEORIA, Ariz. (KSAZ) - In the past few years private surveillance cameras have helped catch a lot of thieves in the act. Now Peoria Police are launching a program called "Safe Cam" to let homeowners and businesses voluntarily register their cameras with the department by providing their name, address, and phone numbers to help solve crimes in the city.
"That way if there is a crime in a certain area we have pretty instant access to know who has cameras in that area, rather than we used to go knock on people's doors and if they weren't home, check back later," said Brandon Sheffert.
Once a person registers their cameras with the police department they will not only know how many cameras you have, but also which direction they're pointing which could be a huge help for police solving crimes.
Cindie Smith of Peoria knows the value of surveillance cameras first hand. The ones on her home caught a man stealing her special needs son's $2,000 bike back in November, and the video went viral on social media.
"People had a visual to see, and that visual intrigued people, they could say hey take a look at this, or did you see the video," said Smith.
Cindie says she is all for the safe-cam project and plans on registering her cameras with the police department.
"If it can help somebody I like that a lot, hopefully we never have to do that but as a precaution it is nice to know that it is there," said Smith.