Crow Wing County Residents Could Be The Difference In Solving Crimes

“When we have subject A on video showing their face, it’s pretty hard to disprove that he or she was not there,” Scott Goddard, Crow Wing County Sheriff, said.

Catching someone in the act of committing a crime is the easiest way to tell if someone is guilty or not, and for that reason, the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Department is launching a new program called Community Watch Cameras.

“We’re looking to build internally a database of businesses and residences all throughout Crow Wing County of everyone that has a home surveillance system, or a camera system.” Goddard said.

The sheriff’s department is asking anyone with a camera system to register it through the sheriff’s department website, giving officers a quick list of cameras to check if a crime occurs in that area.

“It’s a list that we are going to maintain internally – nothing will be shared,” Goddard said. “It’s very simple: we ask for a name, phone number, an address, and then we have you verify on our mapping system where your residence is.”

The program only works if people register their security cameras, and the sheriff’s office is excited to work with the people to help stop crime in Crow Wing County.

“People really want to help, and they want to be part of the solution,” Goddard said. “This is really one of those things that gives everyone an opportunity to share and step forward.”

This program could be useful in solving all sorts of crimes from burglaries, to suspicious activities, to even kidnappings or missing person cases.

“We can quickly reference this and say, ‘There’s a camera system, someone has shared with us that they have a camera that monitors the end of their driveway or the end of the road,’” Goddard said. “That could be something that really changes the direction of where we need to go or where we need to search.”

And at the very least, it will save time.

“We could do it the old-fashioned way, beating on doors, knocking on every door, but when we have so many vacationers that are maybe only here Friday, Saturday, Sunday, it’s hard to get a hold of them,” Goddard said. “With this database, we will have a quick reference to name, address, and a phone number that we can call.”

If people sign up and register, it could save Crow Wing County law enforcement precious time in solving crimes.

If you would like to register your security system with the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Department, you can visit their website at https://crowwing.us/92/Sheriff.