February 21, 2018
A focus on crime prevention
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Florissant Police Department’s Resident Camera Program enlists the help of citizens, and their security cameras, to help fight crime By Charlotte Beard The city of Florissant continues to see a yearly decline in reported crime as its law enforcement seeks ways to involve citizens. In addition to having the city’s Neighborhood Watch Program, late summer 2017 the police department began development of the Resident Camera Program. Steve Michael, Public Information Officer for the Florissant Police Department, is responsible for helping create the city’s latest crime prevention program. “Our Neighborhood Watch is a really big program—an active part of the community in Florissant,” stated Michael. “In those meetings we heard feedback from our residents [stating], ‘I have cameras on my house, would that be able to help anything?’” People often offered police [the opportunity] to stop by to look at their camera activity if there was crime discovered in their area. I did a little research…I found that some other police departments around that time had a similar idea or [were] just starting [a program]. Right about the time we implemented ours, Hazelwood was doing something along the [same] lines, too. It was coincidental…we were able to give each other feedback, see what kind of benefits they were having, see the pros and cons that were working for them, and [determine] how to mold and
shape what we were doing.” Michael expounded on the logistics of the program. “Everything is completely voluntary for the resident. When someone signs up on the [Florissant Government] website [there is] a form that describes how [the program] works, the terms and conditions, and a spot to register.” When a resident registers their camera, it requests the resident’s or business’ identifying information including name, address, phone number, e-mail address, the number of cameras on the property and a description of what the camera views (the street(s) it views or location of camera for residential property). “The form is submitted to our police department. It goes to our detective sergeant—Shawn Reiland who manages it. He’s in charge of the detective bureau. Using the [camera information] that people have submitted, if a crime occurs in a certain area he can [research] the database [of registrations]. We don’t have access to anyone’s cameras.” Michael explained that the police department will contact a registered resident if their camera is in the vicinity of the crime to ask permission to view the footage at the resident’s home at a prescheduled time. If a resident wants to check
independently and confirm that there is nothing to be found on the camera, law enforcement will not persist. Michael stressed that participation in the program is completely voluntary and the Florissant Police Department wants residents to not feel under pressure in the program. “We put this program in place and our residents of Florissant want to help; they just sign up for it,” stressed Michael. Though there is no listing for public consumption to identify residents who have registered in the program, Michael did address concerns that may arise in an investigation where a resident’s camera may capture a crime. “If evidence is collected [from] a camera it could be used in a criminal proceeding. When the criminal is caught in the act of committing the crime the video surveillance is one of the best methods to catch a suspect and actually convict them. That’s the whole purpose behind this [program], going through the video footage for the criminal proceedings.” Approximately 40 residents are registered in the program as of the time of this interview. The Florissant Police Department is hoping for a lot more participation with See ‘CRIME PREVENTION’ page 2
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