Chances are, either you or someone you know has a home security system—and if your home is in Richardson, Texas, police there want to know, too.

With home surveillance systems dropping in price in recent years, security cameras have become more common… serving up ‘gotcha moments' at the push of a button: whether that's a delivery man behaving badly, or a crook caught in the act

The idea in Richardson is to map out a network of home security cameras in neighborhoods throughout the city to aid police in identifying and capturing burglars and other perpetrators. In the case of one local resident, Leo Pease, he found a neighbor lady crying as she came out of her house one day because she had discovered she had been robbed.  Pease calmed her down and then decided to check the footage from his own cameras.  Sure enough, he had caught the burglar on video.  Police used the evidence to eventually arrest the thief and return the stolen items back to the woman.    

This idea of keeping a database of residential security cameras to aid law enforcement to widen its own surveillance systems is likely to be adopted in other cities and towns around the country.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2014/08/08/home-surveillance-a-valuable-resource-for-police/