Naperville police want the public to let them know if they have cameras located outside their homes or businesses so the video can be accessed when law enforcement needs help apprehending a criminal.
The new program is voluntary and encourages anyone with a security camera to register them with the police so officers and detectives can quickly get ahold of footage from where a crime occurred, Deputy Chief Jason Zbrozek said.
Only the camera’s location will be noted, he said. Police will not have direct access to privately owned cameras and will only be able to view videos with the owner’s approval, he said.
However, any footage shared with officers may be used as evidence during any stage of a criminal proceeding, the department’s terms of use says.
Because the program is voluntary, police say participants get to choose what footage they share and they can withdraw consent at any time by calling the department.
“Naperville is an extremely safe community that works well with the police department,” Zbrozek said.
Because the department works hard to build trust in the community, he said, “people (can) feel safe knowing that their cooperation will make them and the community as a whole safer.”
In most crimes, investigators are able to determine if a home or business near where an offense occurred has cameras, but but they don’t know if cameras exist in surrounding buildings, Zbrozek said.
Also because crimes often occur when businesses are not open, the registration will provide contact information so they can get in touch with the camera owner, he said.
With the proliferation of doorbell cameras, the Naperville Police Department in 2019 partnered with the social media platform Neighbors by Ring to encourage residents to post home security videos of suspicious people or incidents in and near their neighborhoods.
Residents don’t need a Ring security camera to access the free app.
Not everyone agrees that more security cameras are a good thing.
Ed Yohnka, communications director of the ACLU of Illinois, said adding more surveillance cameras in a community is “at least troubling and worth a pause.”
While most community surveillance is located in commercial areas, he said, the net is being cast wider through doorbell cameras.
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Depending on the configuration of homes on a block, a person sitting on their porch talking with a friend could get captured on a neighbor’s doorbell, Yohnka said.
“Creating a surveillance society where we are somehow encouraging neighbors to install cameras to spy on other neighbors is really not a healthy way to build community and build trust,” he said.
And there are no long-term studies that demonstrate that surveillance cameras reduce crime, he said.
Chicago is among the most surveilled cities in U.S. and the world, with an integrated system of more than 80,000 cameras, he said. “Yet all we hear about is how there’s a need for public safety downtown,” Yohnka said.
What is troubling, he said, is the notion that surveillance systems somehow are the “panacea for addressing threats to public safety.”
Communities are losing sight that programs like community policing and community-based outreach services, such as mental health, health care and drug treatment, are proven violence interrupters and enhance public safety, Yohnka said.
“I think the idea somehow that I can put up a camera and everything’s going to be OK misses the point about the work we really need to do as a society,” he said.
Although a camera registry program may be voluntary, he added, law enforcement has the tools to get footage, even if the owner chooses not to provide it.
Zbrozek said police have the ability to subpoena or obtain a search warrant for video if it is related to criminal activity, but it’s always easier to work with businesses and residents who voluntarily comply with requests.
“We always try to get voluntary compliance from businesses and residents when it comes to surveillance video. We would only request video if we believe it will help solve a crime,” he said.
The police department will reach out to the business community to explain the registry program this month through email and in-person networking.
In addition, promotions also are planned through the department’s social media channels, the Connected resident newsletter, the city’s website and police-sponsored events, such as National Night Out and public safety open houses.
Business owners and residents can go to www.naperville.il.us/cameraregistration for more information or to participate.