McHenry Police: Shared Vision program now allows residents, businesses to register video cameras

When crime happens, the first thing officers do on the streets is look for video cameras that may have captured images of a suspect, McHenry Police Officer Michael Spohn said.

“We look for cameras on the sides of buildings, see if they record, whose are they and ask for whatever footage they might have that we might be interested in taking a look at,” said Spohn, the department’s public affairs officer.

He and the department announced Friday that there is a new database allowing interested residents to register their cameras with the department.

Police Chief John Birk suggested the Shared Vision Home Camera Database program, Spohn said.

“It is a great place to start for information.”

—   Mike Spohn, McHenry Police Department public affairs officer.

Shared Vision is “a voluntary program that asks residents who have outdoor surveillance cameras to register their cameras with the city of McHenry Police Department. If a crime occurs in the neighborhood, we would ask you to check your camera system to see if you captured a picture that may aid in our investigation,” according to a news release.

The program does not give police access to the footage or the network, according to the release.

Instead, the database lets officers know where cameras may be “and is interested in sharing it with us. This way we can have all of the information in advance when something happens in an area,” Spohn said.

“It is a great place to start for information,” he added.

McHenry Mayor Wayne Jett said the program is a great example of the community working with police.

“This proactive way of thinking will save time and improve the safety of our community. It is true community policing at its best, true partnership with our residents,” Jett said.

There is no cost to participate, and all who do register remain confidential, according to the release.

To register a camera, McHenry residents can go to lf.cityofmchenry.org/Forms/HomeCamera.