San Jose passes security camera registry program

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose police will now have a registry of security cameras in the city to help them fight crime faster and more effectively. The program was passed by the city council Tuesday afternoon.

It was hard finding opponents among merchants in the Willow Glen Business District.

Michelle Matz has eight cameras mounted in her boutique. She's been robbed of jewelry before and thinks the registry is a great idea for police.

"It would help the shop owners feel a little safer, knowing that they can help us quicker," Matz said.

Joe Cirone, the owner of a ramen shop, said that a camera once helped police catch a thief that kept stealing a newspaper stand.

"They saw his plate, they saw the description of the guy and cornered him basically," Cirone said.

City council member Sam Liccardo, a mayoral candidate, introduced the measure.

The program seems simple enough. Property and business owners voluntarily register their security cameras on a new San Jose police database.

"When a burglary or robbery occurs in the neighborhood, then the police will know by simply looking at Google Maps who they can call in the neighborhood to ask for permission to look at the videotape," Liccardo said.

Supporters of the registry point to the string of arson attacks that terrorized Downtown San Jose in January.

A security camera video identified and led to the arrest of the suspected arsonist. Jeff Levine is the resident who owns that security camera.

"There were many video systems in use. This investigation could have been sped up had the location of these systems been known ahead of time," Levine said.

But the Police Officers Association asked, with the 400 fewer cops and an exodus of officers, where the resources were to make the arrests quickly once the cameras identify the criminals.

"This policy does nothing to address response times that have doubled, arrests that have gone in half, solve rates for our crimes that are much less than our national average," San Jose Police Officers Association spokesperson James Gonzales said.

San Jose joins nearby Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, which launched similar programs not long ago.