The Texarkana Texas Police Department has launched an innovative program to aid in the investigation of serious crimes.
Texarkana Texas residents and businesses who have an outdoor video surveillance camera system are asked to register their system online at www.texarkanapolice.net.
“With the proliferation of video surveillance systems at homes and businesses in Texarkana, the opportunity exists for citizens to further partner with the police department to help solve crimes,” said TTPD.
According to officials, in the event of a serious crime, officers will be able to quickly ascertain if there are any registered camera systems in the area. If there are any, the homeowner or business representative at a nearby registered location could be contacted and asked to review their archived video at their convenience to see if their system potentially captured anything that might aid in the investigation.
It is only after the homeowner or business representative determines that there might be something of evidentiary value on their system that the detectives would ask to view the video and make a copy if appropriate.
“On many crime scenes, detectives have had to go door to door in the area asking if they have a video system. That can be a very time consuming process. With this registration program, we will be able to look up where those systems are and how to contact the home or business owner. It is important to remember that they will always have the final say on whether to share their video with us after they have looked at it themselves,” explained Chief Dan Shiner.
TTPD explained the online registration process is simple and only takes about three minutes to complete.
