It was announced on Monday the Saskatoon Police Service would be introducing a voluntary registry of doorbell and other surveillance cameras. The registry would provide the police with a list of people who have such a camera on a certain street, and allow them to streamline the investigation process by calling those on the registry to see if they would be willing to provide footage or photos.  

We asked Weyburn’s Chief of Police, Jamie Blunden, on what he thought of the concept. 

“Hats off to Saskatoon police for doing that,” Blunden said. “I know in big cities time is of an essence, and if you’re investigating something that happened on the street during daytime, you might not have people in the area that are home, so for them to be able to look on the registry to be able to identify the ones that might have a camera, I think that’s a great idea.” 

Blunden did clarify, though, that it may not be a solution for all police services in the province, as it could be very community-dependent. 

“A small city like us, what happens is if there was something to happen on the street in front of your place, we would probably knock on some doors and see, if you did have a ring camera, to be able to use that; if you were voluntarily willing to give that up.” 

Doorbell cameras and other surveillance systems on private property have helped out the Weyburn Police Service in the past. Blunden pointed to an example that happened last year, where there was a string of break-ins and other property offences.  

“Without the community involvement, by giving us pictures and sending us things like ring doorbell cameras as well as camera photos that they’ve taken themselves from their security camera, we wouldn’t have been able to solve that,” Blunden stated.  

Blunden noted that while a registry may be able to streamline the investigative process in Saskatoon, here in Weyburn the concept of being a good community member means quite often they are able to get that information from residents who come forward with assistance.