Doorbell Camera Rebate Program Legislation Passes Baltimore City Council
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City Council approved legislation that will give residents a rebate if they install a home security camera and register it with the city.
The Patterson Park Neighborhood was one of the first in the city to establish a database for security cameras. Now, the Baltimore City Council wants to encourage all city residents to go out and purchase a home security camera.
"It aids with arrests, but it also aids with prosecution," Arch McKown, Patterson Park Public Safety Chair, said.
City Council passed legislation that will offer people up to $150 to put toward a Ring or Nest doorbell camera. Participants will then register their cameras with a city program called CitiWatch Community Partnership.
The program shows police where the cameras are and gives them the contact information to request videos and images if there's a crime in the area.
The cameras captured an assault on Bank Street in southeast Baltimore last year where a woman was violently carjacked during the day. There was also another incident captured where three woman were attacked on Gough Street near Patterson Park.
Related Coverage:
- Baltimore Police Investigating After Carjacking In Broad Daylight
- 3 Women Attacked In Patterson Park Area
Many residents in Patterson Park said they think it's a good idea despite some mentioning privacy as a concern.
"You could piece together an entire crime if the whole neighborhood had some sort of surveillance," Antoine McKinney, a Baltimore City resident, said.
"I know that a lot of people who steal packages will look straight into the camera and still steal them, but at least they know their face is being recorded," Tina Ghasri, a Baltimore City resident, said.
The CitiWatch Program is voluntary, and police ever want to access a person's video surveillance system, they would always have to get permission from the homeowner before doing so.
