SEAFORD - Seaford Police are launching a new initiative aimed at curbing crime with the help of doorbell cameras like Ring, which are often utilized in police investigations. The department is asking residents and businesses to voluntarily register their cameras, providing their locations and contact information to facilitate quicker access to footage when a crime occurs.
Deputy Chief of Police Michael Rappa explained that this registration system would significantly aid investigations,
“It allows us to conduct our investigation as far as, if theirs an incident in that area and we need to see as much information as we can in a quick time frame, we can reach out to those community members.” he said.
He emphasized that the police would not have direct access to the camera feeds.
“What can we see? We can’t see anything - we have no direct feed to those cameras, it just allows us to see that these houses have cameras and where these houses are at. So we can then reach out to them by phone or email to see if they can provide us video.” he added.
Many residents support the idea, seeing it as a way for the community to contribute to public safety.
"We all need to work together to stop crime," said one local supporter. "It's about the community collaborating to resolve these issues."
The Police Chief and The Deputy Chief will provide a demonstration on how to sign up at tonight’s city council meeting, you can find a link to register here.
Some residents, like Clarence Wyatt support the idea, seeing it as a way for the community to contribute to public safety.
“We all in the community have to actually work together to stop crime - it’s the community coming forward and actually helping to make this change we want to see.”
Others, like Tarshish Sturgis say they understand, but don't love the idea of police having all that information,
“If a crime should happen around a neighborhood, then you should go to that neighbor and ask if they have footage or anything that should be helpful. That’s it, you should not have a list where you can just call and say I need footage off you. I know you have a ring camera.” she said.
