BUFFALO, NY - Buffalo Police have unveiled a new initiative to solve crimes. Police officials are reaching out to residents and businesses that have video surveillance systems.
According to police officials, the city has more than 200 surveillance cameras that investigators are rely on for possible video evidence. But, police want to be able to see your home or business surveillance video, if you have a system.
To do this, police need you to sign up.
"And, today that system goes live in the City of Buffalo," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
The new system is called "Safe Cam" -- police say it will help enhance how police obtain video evidence. They're asking anyone with a video surveillance system on their property, to sign up voluntarily on the Buffalo Police website -- entering their name, address and how many cameras are on their property.
If enough people sign up, police commissioner Daniel Derenda says, " it gives us the ability to basically circle an area where a major crime has occurred and basically see where all the surveillance cameras are and, in a more efficient manner, go and retrieve this video and see if it's useful."
Police say this is better than going door to door, using up precious time searching to see who may have a surveillance system rather than searching for the criminal. And, they say they'll keep the information confidential.
"It's not going to be much of an intrusion. We're going to come in, we're going to take the video, and we're going to leave. Your system stays intact, we don't take your system, you remain anonymous, and we go from there," Derenda said.
REPORTER: Police would not be able to manually tap into the surveillance cameras from an outside location?
DERENDA: "Correct, all it does is it gives us the ability to know where the cameras are."
Police say some residents and businesses have already signed up, but for security purposes they won't say how many. Officials say if they get a lot of people to sign up for the Safe Cam system, they'll be able to rely on a video surveillance system that covers the city.
The Buffalo Police Department is modeling the Safe Cam system after a program that the City of Philadelphia Police Department uses. Police say thousands of people in Philly have signed up for the system there.
