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Columbia businesses and private citizens encouraged to register security cameras

A dome-shaped security camera hangs on the side of a red brick building.
Rick Bowmer
/
AP

The Columbia Police Department is asking owners of surveillance cameras on private property to register them as part of a new effort to help solve crimes with neighborhood security footage.

Called the Columbia Safe Public Safety Camera Program, it encourages voluntary registration by local businesses and private citizens with security cameras. Registration can be done through the department website.

Once they register voluntarily, law enforcement can ask for any footage that would help a criminal investigation.

“Camera registration is voluntary and does not grant police access to live feeds or footage ... If an incident occurs nearby, investigators may contact camera owners to request footage that could contain important evidence,” according to the city website.

The program also encourages residents to purchase Flock cameras that read license plate numbers and can help identify vehicles.

This comes after the Columbia City Council approved the installation of more than 100 live-action video cameras and Flock cameras throughout the city in October at $539,400. Columbia police and the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department operate the cameras.

At the time, there were concerns of potential abuse of the cameras by the Mid-Missouri Civil Liberties Association.

“There should be a heavy burden on the government to justify increasing surveillance of us, of citizens who have not broken the law,” said Dan Viets, president of the association, commenting on the Columbia Safe program.

“There needs to be some evidence that this system will either reduce crime or help solve crime — there’s no independent objective assessment of these programs that demonstrate that they accomplish their goals. Even if they do accomplish their goal, I’m still not comfortable with unlimited government surveillance,” Viets said.

Local police departments and Flock claimed the cameras assisted in crime investigations, including a sexual assault case in Webster Groves in St. Louis County, according to previous Missourian reporting.

Other cities across the U.S. have surveillance systems, usually called a real-time crime center, but in recent years, more cities have been collaborating with community members to aid investigations and deter crime.

Detroit piloted its Project Green Light with eight gas stations that had some of the highest crime rates in the city. The police department and businesses collaborated by installing real-time cameras there, and signs alerted customers that the area was being actively monitored by police.

In the first year of the project, carjackings decreased 39% and robberies decreased 17%, according to the Detroit News. In 2020, the city showed a 49% reduction in the number of robberies and a 57% reduction in carjackings since the launch of the program in January 2016.

Other programs were also launched in Detroit that focused on community-based solutions to crime, which helped reduce crime numbers.

The city and Columbia police plan to use their “annual surveillance technology report” to report results.

The Columbia Missourian is a community news organization managed by professional editors and staffed by Missouri School of Journalism students who do the reporting, design, copy editing, information graphics, photography and multimedia.
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