Prince George, BC - Residents and businesses have a new way they can help to improve public safety in Prince George with the launch of a new volunteer initiative brought forward by the City of Prince George and the Prince George RCMP. Starting today, residents can voluntarily register their surveillance recording cameras at www.princegeorge.ca/cctv in confidence with the City of Prince George via the new CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) Registration Program.
The registry will be managed by the City of Prince George and will be accessible to the Prince George RCMP. By accessing the registry, RCMP will be able to quickly identify the location and owners of potential sources of video evidence, which will help to decrease the time, effort, and cost of a variety of incident investigations.
“The City of Prince George is pleased to participate in this program in the interest of crime prevention and improving public safety in the community,” said Adam Davey, Director of Public Safety with the City of Prince George. “We certainly encourage all residents with security recording devices on their property or place of business to sign up and be part of the registry. Your contact information will be kept confidential, and you will only be contacted in the event of a nearby incident.”
Interested residents and business owners who use video recording devices to monitor their properties can simply fill out an online form on the City website. The registered information will include contact and camera location details, which will be managed confidentially by the City of Prince George. The data will be securely shared with law enforcement for the sole purpose of identifying potential recorded video footage related to a law enforcement investigation. Citizens can register multiple video cameras during the application process.
If there is an incident in the immediate vicinity of a camera on the registry, RCMP members may contact the registered owner of the device to request permission of any recorded video of the incident as part of their investigation.
“Advances in technology have significant impacts on policing and we need to continually adapt in order to be successful. Video surveillance systems are becoming more affordable and they are of much higher quality than even a few years ago,” said Supt. Shaun Wright, Officer in Charge of the Prince George RCMP. “This new camera registry will allow our officers to quickly locate video evidence that will support our investigations and lead to more arrests of persons committing crimes in our community. We encourage everyone to register their external cameras as soon as possible to assist us in keeping the Prince George Community safe.”
Residents with questions about the CCTV Registry Program are advised to contact cctvregistry@princegeorge.ca.