With security cameras being easy and cheap to get, you never know if your or your neighbor’s camera will capture something that can help police with an investigation. 

That’s why the RCMP have been running the Capture Program. 

In a release it explains that, 

“Borrowing from success the program has had in Alberta the initiative invites people who have exterior video cameras to voluntarily register their location. Home and business owners do not have to provide their names, just their location and email address. Then, if there is a crime in the neighborhood, the police can quickly find out who might have footage that leads to solving it. 

"This makes it easier for us to go quickly to the camera owner and say 'There was just a break and enter down the street. We were hoping that your camera might have captured a person or vehicle believed to have been involved in the break and enter,'” says Staff Sergeant Kevin Peterson, of the Kindersley RCMP. “It's not much different from what we would normally do. This expedites things, especially in an extremely urgent situation. It would make our response a lot quicker.”” 

Yours and your family’s privacy is of number one concern and this program respects that. 

“• It’s completely voluntary. People sign up if they are interested in being contacted should there be a crime in their neighborhood.  

• The map will not list the homeowners’ name, just the presence of a video surveillance camera at that address.  

• If the police want to access the footage, it’s up to the homeowner whether they wish to comply or not.  

• Police will not store the footage indefinitely. If the footage does become part of the police investigation, it will be returned once it is no longer required as part of any court proceedings. 

“The point of CAPTURE is not to be saying, 'We want your video evidence,' even though that is true,” says Peterson. “The objective is to place the power in the hands of people who have [the technology.]”” 

More information can be found here or through the Kindersley RCMP detachment