Police in Pflugerville are asking for your help to solve crimes using your home security camera.
The department wants residents with cameras outside their house to register them, so they can use them if someone commits a crime in the area.
“I have this one here, and you can see this one covers all of this area,” said Pflugerville resident Sherry Walton. "It shows my cars and anybody that has access to my front door.”
Walton installed the camera after someone broke into her car a few years ago.
"It keeps you safe, it gives you peace of mind,” she said. "I can see the outside when somebody's at the door."
Now, Walton sells home security cameras at her Pflugerville business, Sharco Technoligies Inc., too.
"There's so many reasons to get a camera,” Walton explained.
These are the types of cameras Pflugerville Police want to know about, hoping to make it more difficult for criminals to get away.
"It's like having a thousand witnesses right there saying that's the person that did it,” said Detective Dan Griffith.
Griffith said about 100 people have signed up since Friday.
"If a crime happened in that area, we'd be able to call those folks and ask them ‘can an officer come and look at your camera to see if it picked up the vehicle, the people, or whatever on the crime that happened?',” said Griffith.
Griffith said it can also help police cut down on the man hours they typically use to find those cameras after a crime has already happened.
"We do canvas the neighborhoods to see who has video,” said Griffith.
Police want to clarify, however, that they cannot gain access to your camera. The department basically wants to have a map of where the cameras are located in the city.
Georgetown police launched something similar last year, and Austin police are testing a pilot program specifically with businesses, but they have the option to give police access to their live video feed.
Walton said she supports these partnerships between police and homeowners.
"I think it's a great idea, it's kind of more eyes for them and we can all use a lot of eyes anymore,” said Walton. "If anything ever happened, they can see there's strange cars, they can come, this will keep a 30 day review, so I can spin that camera back 30 days and who was in my neighborhood, who was at my door.”
If you want to register your camera with Pflugerville Police, you can click here.
