LEBANON — As security technology advances, more homeowners are installing video cameras outside their houses to capture everything from a package delivery to a visit from a neighbor.
Now, Lebanon police hope a new camera registry program can help put that technology to use solving crimes, too.
The program, which police announced last week, asks anyone who has a security camera on their house, office or business to voluntarily register that camera with the department. If a crime occurs in the area, police can refer to list of registered cameras and call the owners to see whether any might have captured footage related to the incident, said Lebanon Police Chief Richard Mello.
“We can’t be everywhere. Crime is going to happen, and we can’t see everything,” Mello said.
He added that police have reviewed surveillance videos in the past, but they’ve never had a registry of available cameras, meaning that there might have been footage that they’ve missed.
The idea for the program arose after the department noticed an uptick in homeowners with video doorbells.
The increase is likely due to the convenience of the new technology, said Tim Surprenant, president of Tasco Security Inc., an Enfield-based business that sells and installs home security systems.
Video doorbells can be relatively inexpensive — only a few hundred dollars — and can provide homeowners with real-time updates about packages, visitors and suspicious incidents.
With some of the more advanced systems, which can run more than $1,000, residents can send video footage to police during or immediately following an incident, Surprenant said.
The cost and convenience have led to an increase over the past few years of residents who own doorbell cameras and other home security systems.
Surprenant said he’s supportive of Lebanon’s new camera registry program, but he urges police to be careful about the footage that they use during investigations. Some cameras that are installed incorrectly can reflect the wrong time of day, which could hurt, rather than help, an investigation.
“If you set the time and date wrong on your camera and you’re providing info to the police, then you’ve sent them on this false narrative,” Surprenant said.
He also added that owners of cameras that record audio should be aware of New Hampshire’s two-party consent law, which stipulates that everyone involved has to know that they are being recorded.
“I think it’s a great idea what they’re doing, but I want to make sure they’re not falling to any of these quagmires,” he said.
Camera owners could avoid potential two-party consent issues by putting a sign outside their home notifying their neighbors and visitors of the cameras’ presence, according to Ann Bartow, a professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. For Bartow, the privacy issue lies more with what information and footage residents are capturing of their neighbors.
“A lot of things can be recorded. Embarrassing things. We don’t know what the police will do with it,” Bartow said, adding that security cameras can capture everything without neighbors necessarily realizing they’re being recorded. Camera owners are even putting themselves at risk with constant surveillance of their property and activities.
“People give consent (to police) to use camera footage and think ‘I would never do anything wrong,’ but you don’t think about how things can be misconstrued,” she said.
Mello said the program is voluntary and no one should feel obligated to register. Police would only review whatever footage a resident or business decides to provide, Mello said. If a camera captures footage of a crime, investigators might ask the owner to review an hour in each direction — before and after the incident — but wouldn’t push for owners to give up additional footage.
“We have gone to great lengths to take privacy into consideration,” Mello said. “We will take what they’re willing to give us.”
A similar case made national news earlier this year, when the Washington Post reported that Ring, a doorbell security company, was partnering with more than 400 police departments across the country, granting them easier access to residents’ security footage with the consent of the camera owner.
Surveillance footage has been a boon to police investigations for years. Most recently, Mello noted several car break-ins on Oct. 17 in West Lebanon, including on Seminary Hill and Maple and Pleasant streets. When police reached out to residents asking if any security cameras had captured the incidents, they got multiple responses from neighbors with footage, Mello said.
The case remains unsolved, but thanks to residents, police have footage of a suspect’s 2007 Toyota Camry.
And Lebanon is not alone in its reliance on security cameras to help with investigations.
As recently as Monday, Vermont State Police put out a news release asking the public to contact them about any video or security footage that might have been taken along Route 103 between Rutland, Vt., and Interstate 91 early Friday afternoon as authorities investigate the fatal shooting of a produce truck driver.
Anna Merriman can be reached at amerriman@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.