In an effort to enhance investigative efforts of criminal matters, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office is launching a new program called Virtual Crime Watch. If you have a home or business surveillance camera, you can register it with the CCSO, which will then become part of a database the Agency can use to ascertain if anyone has a security camera system in the vicinity of a reported crime.
The CCSO will not have a direct link to the footage from your camera, they will simply know that you have a system that may have captured critical footage associated with the event being investigated.
“Providing us with the location of your security camera has the potential to help us apprehend or identify criminals faster. As officers respond to criminal incidents, they may be able to use the information or footage from the security camera to assist in the apprehension and prosecution of the criminals involved, thus keeping our communities safer,” said Sheriff Troy Berry.
After registering your camera, you would only be contacted by a member of the CCSO if there is a crime in the area of the security camera. “Any information that’s captured on a camera is of value to us. Our goal is to get as much information as quickly as possible in regards to any investigation we work, and video surveillance footage is excellent evidence when prosecuting crimes,” said Lt. Louis Schmidt, III, Commander of the Agency’s Homeland Security and Intelligence Section.
The CCSO is committed to advancing policing through technology to help keep communities safe. To register a camera, visit Crimereports.com, click on “Register my Camera” and follow the prompts to create your own account. Links are also available on the CCSO webpage at https://www.ccso.us/. For more information and instructions, view our tutorial video.
