Residents, Businesses Urged To Register Security Cameras

OAK LAWN, IL — The Oak Lawn Police Department says it has a new way to use security cameras throughout the village, designed to cut down on the time it now takes officers to comb the streets for video evidence when a crime occurs in a specific area. Residents and businesses can register their Ring camera and security surveillance systems to be part of the crime-fighting process.

The registry is now live on the village website.

Village police partnered with FUSUS, a software platform that combines private and public video streams into a single feed, enabling greater situational awareness and a common operation picture. Video streams from fixed and mobile sources are combined into a single platform, according to the company’s website.

“We don’t control the system, it allows us access to any residential, commercial and school security system in Oak Lawn,” Chief Dan Vittorio, told village trustees at the Jan. 25 board meeting. “Through the program, detectives have a dashboard that we can use. If there is a crime at a certain address, detectives can set up a radius. If your system is registered, it cuts down on the time for detectives to canvass the area, instead of going door to door to see who has outside surveillance.”

Residents and businesses can go to the village website to create an account. After receiving a confirmation email, residents will be taken to their new account, where they will be taken to a satellite view of the surveillance network. Click on your home or business location. The system accepts Ring cameras and other home security systems, as well as commercial surveillance cameras. Users will indicate where cameras are located on the exterior of their buildings.

In addition, there will also be an option that will allow Oak Lawn police live access to security cameras. Users that don’t want police to have live access will receive an email to check their cameras. The registry is free. Police say they will not share your location with anyone else, and residents and businesses will only be contacted if a crime occurs in their area.

Eventually, Vittorio said the platform will be integrated with the computer aided dispatch systems in patrol cars, the first point of entry for information coming from 911 dispatch centers, and, eventually, license plate reader cameras.

“If [the plate readers] read that a stolen car entered Oak Lawn and alert the patrol division,” the police chief said. “It’s going to take a little time to implement the plan. We’ll be able to work smarter, not harder.”

Oak Lawn police already have access to school and bank security systems. A growing number of residents have registered their home security cameras. Residents can still check tips and hotlines associated with the registry program.

“What we’re getting now are people just sending events controlled by the homeowner sending events to the tip line,” Vittorio said. “We’ll be able to work smarter, not harder.”

Register your security camera with Oak Lawn Police Department