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Diane Richardson
Media Relations Office
(301) 609-6557 or (240) 682-1658
In an effort to enhance investigative efforts of criminal matters, the Charles County Sheriff’s Office is launching a new program called Virtual Crime Watch. If you have a home or business surveillance camera, you can register it with the CCSO, which will then become part of a database the Agency can use to ascertain if anyone has a security camera system in the vicinity of a reported crime. The CCSO will not have a direct link to the footage from your camera, they will simply know that you have a system that may have captured critical footage associated with the event being investigated.
“Providing us with the location of your security camera has the potential to help us apprehend or identify criminals faster. As officers respond to criminal incidents, they may be able to use the information or footage from the security camera to assist in the apprehension and prosecution of the criminals involved, thus keeping our communities safer,” said Sheriff Troy Berry.
After registering your camera, you would only be contacted by a member of the CCSO if there is a crime in the area of the security camera. “Any information that’s captured on a camera is of value to us. Our goal is to get as much information as quickly as possible in regards to any investigation we work, and video surveillance footage is excellent evidence when prosecuting crimes,” said Lt. Louis Schmidt, III, Commander of the Agency’s Homeland Security and Intelligence Section.
The CCSO is committed to advancing policing through technology to help keep communities safe. To register a camera, visit Crimereports.com, click on “Register my Camera” and follow the prompts to create your own account. Links are also available on the CCSO webpage at https://www.ccso.us/. For more information and instructions, view our tutorial video.
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is a full-service law enforcement agency comprised of more than 600 police, corrections and civilian personnel responsible for protecting more than 150,000 residents. The CCSO was accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in 2001 has been designated as a CALEA Gold Standard of Excellence agency since 2011. Established in 1658, the CCSO is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States. For more information, visit www.ccso.us.
Charles County Crime Solvers offers rewards of up to $1,000 for information that leads to the arrest or indictment of a person responsible for a crime in Charles County. All individuals who provide tips through Crime Solvers will remain anonymous. Anyone with information about an unsolved crime or the location of a fugitive may contact Charles County Crime Solvers by calling 1-866-411-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted online at www.charlescountycrimesolvers.com or by using the P3Intel mobile app, which can be found in the Android Store and Apple store by searching P3tips. For more information about the P3 program, click on this link: www.p3intel.com.