Brandon Police Service launch SNAP: a Security Camera Mapping Program

Brandon Police Service is pleased to announce the delivery of a new initiative within the City of Brandon.  Safer Neighbourhoods and Policing (or S. N. A. P) offers citizens and business owners in Brandon the opportunity to register the location of security camera systems onto an online mapping database that can be accessed by police investigators.

One of our members, who saw similar successful programs being implemented in other police jurisdictions across North America, recognized the potential for this program and brought this concept to fruition.

Owners of security camera systems within City of Brandon limits can access this registration system at https://snap.brandon.ca.  Once here, they can put in their contact information, location, and number of cameras, which police will in turn see populated on a map of the City of Brandon.

Police may use the information citizens put into the database to contact them in the event a crime has been committed in their area.  If camera owners have useful security footage, they have the ability to assist in police investigations by sharing it.  Police will provide a storage device to retrieve any relevant footage; there is no need for the removal of personal camera equipment.  As always, participation in this program does not mean that individuals are obligated to provide police with any footage.

Only members of Brandon Police Service will have access to this map and data, and you may request to have your information removed at any time.  This is a secure and confidential platform; any information that is added is not, and will not, be visible or made available to other contributors or citizens of Brandon.

“Over the past 30 years of my service, the citizen of Brandon have been an integral part of our community safety.” states Wayne Balcaen, Chief of Police.  “The SNAP program is another avenue for our citizens and business community to proactively contribute to the security of our city.  As the number of private security camera networks continue to increase, registering where your cameras are located will help build another investigational avenue for our police service.  I look forward to the development of this police/community partnership initiative.”

Police in Brandon frequently utilize private security footage to solve crimes and while investigators will still canvass neighbourhoods for this information, it can often be very time consuming, leading to delays in stopping a potentially active threat.  By having a centralized map of where these cameras exist, police have the opportunity to expedite investigations where very critical and time sensitive needs exist.

Brandon Police Service looks forward to working with the citizens of Brandon as we all strive to deter and prevent crime through this community-based program

For more information, please visit:

https://www.brandon.ca/what-we-do/s-n-a-p-initiative

To register a camera visit:

https://snap.brandon.ca

(submitted Brandon Police Service)