NKPD creating video list
NEW KNOXVILLE — To keep up with and possibly get ahead of crime, the New Knoxville Police Department is embracing technology and asking for a helping hand from village residents.
In a post to the department’s Facebook page, Chief Chris McKinney announced he was interested in starting a database of properties that have exterior video surveillance that would be willing to share that footage with the police department.
“That way, if we have something happen in a particular neighborhood, I can reach out to those people and ask them to check their cameras and see if they happened to record anything suspicious, whether it be a suspicious person or vehicle that they’ve never seen in the area,” he said. “That way we can put it together with any pending cases and use it as evidence or use it to get leads to follow up on, things like that.”
While the recent surge of vehicle breakins was a factor in McKinney’s unveiling of the program, he said it’s something he’s been thinking about doing for some time. He also added that people in the past have come forward with suspicious activity captured on their cameras, and with the increasing availability of home security cameras, the likelihood that crime will be captured on video is growing.
The chief put the post on Facebook to
gauge the feelings of residents about the idea and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
McKinney has even received requests to be added to the database from people who live outside the village in surrounding Washington Township.
“Of course I said ‘yes,’ because you never know when maybe something will happen or someone will head their way,” he said.
McKinney also planned to share the information with the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office so it is available to deputies who could use it but also because the sheriff’s office provides protection for the village when the NKPD is not available.
While law enforcement is grateful for residents stepping up and volunteering their video cameras, McKinney ensured privacy would still be maintained.
“This information would be kept strictly private and at our office,” he said. “I don’t want their passwords or login info, I just want to be able to contact people if we think there’s a chance they may have captured something that could help us with a case. The homeowner would be doing all the work of downloading their video and if they’ve got something, they can just give me a call and we’ll go from there.
“People may have had some concerns about the government stepping in or police overreach but it’s completely voluntary and we’ll keep all that information secure. This is just another tool for us to try to solve any crime that happens here in town.”
Those wishing to participate in this database are asked to write down their information or email it to the police department with a name, contact number, address and what kind of system they have — whether it’s a doorbell camera or surveillance cameras.
Paper copies can be dropped off at the village hall and emails can be sent to Police.chief@newknoxville.com.