Timmins Police Const. David Wilkie likes to call an investigative tool he’s pioneering “Neighbourhood Watch 2.0”.
“With residences and businesses, everyone’s got cameras nowadays,” he says, “whether it’s security cameras or Ring doorbell cameras.”
Const. Wilkie first learned about CAMSafe from Belleville Police, which launched it in 2021.
It’s a program through which you can register your cameras. It reduces the amount of time investigators need to track down video of any incident.
“We can geofence an areas and say ‘okay, there’s X amount of security cameras or Ring doorbell cameras in this area that an incident happened,’” Wilkie explains, “whether it be an MVC (motor vehicle collision) or a serious incident.”
Wilkie says police do not have access to live footage. They contact you and ask you to share the images.
“It’s a voluntary program. You can register at timminspolice.ca under online services, which will bring you over the CAMSafe, where you can register and again, this is completely voluntary, and I want to stress we do not have access to live video feed.”
Hear more from Constable Wilkie in this audio link: