Security Camera Registration Requested By Bensalem Township Police

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —Attention Businesses and Residences: Register your cameras.

Bensalem Township Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo, along with the Bensalem Township Police Department, is asking business owners and residents to register their security video cameras in a new program they hope will further crack down on crime.

"With crime the way it is today, we're always looking for ways to prevent it. We're going to protect the people of Bensalem," DiGirolamo said during an introduction of the presentation on "The Mayor Show.

The police department is launching the FUSUS Camera Registry Program, asking that people provide police with the locations of their security cameras in a collaborative effort to keep the township safe.

"This will bring all cameras together," William McVey, the township's public safety director, said. "It's truly a community policing collaboration with technology."

McVey added that police department's use technology with intersection cameras and license plate readers has helped curb crime. Even township school buses this year were outfitted with cameras.

He explained that the program is "the next level to stop crime in its tracks."

The mayor said it provides police with another tool to combat crime.

Detective Sgt. Glenn Vandegrift said that the program was brought to the township and he brought it to the mayor who wanted the police department to institute the program.

"Every officer will have access," he said. "In real time, we can see inside businesses. We're asking residents to register their homes."

Police did stress that:

• Sharing does not mean the police department will have access to security cameras.
• There is no additional cost involved.
• Information will not be shared with anyone else.
• The police department will only contact residents if a crime occurs in their neighborhood.

Click on the link to register your security camerawith the police department.

Vandegrift said residents would just have to provide their contact information. That information would be placed into a secure map that is only accessed by the police department.

"We always canvass the neighborhood for cameras when there is a crime," he said. "It's very time-consuming."

Read more details about the program.

Watch the presentation on "The Mayor's Show" below.