Security camera owners in the Waitaki District are being asked to join forces to fight crime.

Waitaki Neighbourhood Support co-ordinator Christine Dorsey says private houses and businesses with security cameras can register with Community Cam, a national database police can access when investigating a crime.

“It’s a really good crime-solving tool,” Christine says. “Unfortunately it hasn’t been utilised very well in the Waitaki area.”

Ōamaru Community Constable Rachel Osborne is on a quest to raise awareness of the database, and increase the number of Waitaki camera registrations, Christine says.

The database means if there is an incident in a business area or residential street, police can see who has cameras in that specific location and request to see the camera footage.

Police are the only people who can access the database.

To encourage people to register with Community Cam, Neighbourhood Support has initiatives in place, Christine says.

“Mitre 10 has donated a hamper, and anyone who logs their camera by the end of March goes into a draw. And in fact, anyone who's already existing on the site in the Waitaki area will also be in that draw, so it covers everyone. 

“Then the other thing is, even after the draw, Neighbourhood Support is putting some information into all of the businesses that currently sell cameras, so when people purchase a camera they'll also get an information card saying ‘please go and register your camera’.”

Waitaki Neighbourhood Support co-ordinator Christine Dorsey. Photo: Supplied

The uptake so far in the Waitaki is “very low” because the initiative has not really been publicised and people probably don’t know about it, she says.

“Because we've had such a gap in not having a community constable for a period of time, so now this is just one of the initiatives she's doing, which is fabulous.”

It gives police another tool and is an easy way to do something to help community safety, Christine says.

“It literally takes you a minute. So it's not a big ask of anybody's time.”