Some detachments of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are implementing what they're calling "Neighbourhood Watch 2.0."
"CAMSafe is a registry of anyone who owns security cameras, Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems, or doorbell cams in the province of Ontario," police said in a release.
The CAMSafe database will provide the OPP with a map of cameras within the area of an investigation.
"Currently, when investigating a crime, police will canvass a neighbourhood looking for video, which can be a very time-consuming process. With CAMSafe, a database of residential and commercial security cameras is created within a community that may act as a resource for police when investigating offences/crimes and help speed up the investigation," explained Middlesex OPP Inspector, Ross Stuart.
Interested community members are required to provide basic contact information and camera location but, can include more details if desired. This includes the direction the camera faces, footage retention details, or screenshots of the camera view.
Registrants can delete their account, change, or update their information at any time.
Police assure that they cannot access security cameras or cloud-based accounts without permission. They also say they are the only ones who have access to the database of registrants.
As of Saturday, Middlesex, Oxford, Perth, and Grey-Bruce are included in the OPP detachments that have initiated the program.