Introducing CAMSafe: Strengthen Community Safety Through Partnership with Police

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   Monday, March 17, 2025             3:00 pm

(Ottawa) — The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) is proud to promote CAMSafe, a new initiative designed to enhance crime prevention and assist in investigations by leveraging community security cameras. OPS is calling on residents with surveillance systems on their property to register and submit their interest in partnering with police to help keep our neighbourhoods safe.

CAMSafe is a voluntary registry where residents and businesses can provide their contact details and indicate their willingness to share recorded security footage with police when needed — officers do not have access to live footage and will only contact the public in the event an incident occurs in their area and footage from their device might be of use in an investigation.  This modernized approach to community safety is a new version of Neighbourhood Watch and aims to create a valuable resource for law enforcement agencies across Ontario.

The program strictly maintains privacy and security. The contact list contains your basic details and camera locations only. Police do not share this data with anyone, and registrants retain full control over their participation in the program. Participation is always voluntary, and participants can update or remove their contact information at any time.

When a crime occurs, officers can consult CAMSafe to identify registered cameras in the vicinity. The system provides a screenshot of the camera’s perspective that registrants upload when signing up, enabling officers to determine whether relevant footage may be available. If so, police will reach out to the registrant to request video evidence that could aid in the investigation.

Several police services and communities, including Belleville, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Sudbury, Peterborough, Hanover, Saugeen Shores, and Kawartha Lakes, are actively supporting CAMSafe and encouraging participation in their jurisdiction.

The success of CAMSafe relies on widespread community involvement. To promote registration, the OPS CAMSafe team will be conducting an outreach campaign and a marketing campaign in the coming weeks. An official launch event is open to the residents and businesses of the downtown area on April 28, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM at the Neighbourhood Operations Centre (50 Rideau St.)

For more information on CAMSafe or to register, please visit ottawapolice.ca/camsafe or send an email to [email protected].

For FAQ, click here.

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Through the Community Safety Data portal data.ottawapolice.ca, members of the public can view, download, and interact with data released by the Ottawa Police Service.

CONTACT:

Media Relations Section                       

Tel: 613-236-1222, ext. 5366