Worcester Police Want To Access Private Cameras

Police in Worcester say they want property owners to feed footage from their security cameras to a video surveillance center that is under construction at department headquarters.

Police Chief Gary Gemme tells the Telegram & Gazette that the Real Time Crime Center will not be able to store video surveillance footage. He says authorities will access the video only in instances of a shooting, robbery or other serious crimes.

He says when police identify a suspect or relevant information in the footage from surveillance cameras, officers will need to go to the owner of the surveillance system to retrieve the video.

Gemme says the Real Time Crime Center will be able to access footage from surveillance cameras installed on private properties only after the police department signs memorandums of understanding with each owner.