HBPD looks for surveillance help
The Hermosa Beach Police Department is asking for residents’ help in solving and reducing crime in local neighborhoods by registering the location of home or business security cameras through CrimeReports Camera Registration.
“Hermosa Beach, along with other South Bay cities, has recently seen an increase in residential and vehicle burglaries,” said Georgia Lonnquist, HBPD community services manager. “Video surveillance can be a very useful tool in helping law enforcement solve these types of crimes.”
Hermosa Beach has used CrimeReports.com for several years. The company’s surveillance camera registration feature was launched last month.
“The idea of identifying the location of video cameras in our area first came to mind when we began working on the project of getting cameras in our downtown area,” said Lonnquist. “So when CrimeReports.com added this feature to their website, we jumped at the opportunity to use it.”
By registering a camera, the police department will have the location of the security camera on file which they hope will help deter crime and provide information needed to catch criminals faster. The police department will not have the ability to access the video but they will contact a camera owner to determine if video surveillance is available in areas where crimes have occurred.
“We are trying to get as many residents and businesses as possible to register their cameras with us so we know which parts of our city have video coverage,” said HBPD Chief Sharon Papa. “When a crime occurs, our officers will automatically know there is a camera in the neighborhood that may have captured the crime and can reach out to the owner and request a copy of the footage.”
“There have been fifteen camera locations registered since first sending out the invitation to our citizens on February 19,” said Lonnquist. “This is a great start and a great way for the community to partner with law enforcement in reducing and solving crimes in our area…Our hope is that more citizens and businesses will see the value in registering.”
For more information on the voluntary registration, visit www.crimereports.com.