Des Moines suburb wants people to register doorbell cameras

WAUKEE, Iowa (AP) — Police in a Des Moines suburb want residents to register their doorbell and other security cameras as a way to solve crimes.

Waukee police Sgt. Mackenzie Sposeto said the city has received around 20 applications since launching the program a few weeks ago, according to the Des Moines Register.

Sposeto says registering a camera does not give police automatic access to the recordings. But police can quickly contact the owner and request recordings if a crime occurs nearby. The camera recordings can help police identify people or vehicles involved in a crime or to signal the path of someone leaving a crime scene.

Video from a home security camera in Brooklyn, Iowa, led police to the car of Cristhian Bahena Rivera, the man charged with killing University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts last summer. He’s pleaded not guilty.