Reams of footage from doorbell and CCTV cameras are being submitted directly to Merseyside Police by homeowners as a new scheme to tackle burglary takes off.
The force's "Public CCTV Submission Portal" has been up and running for one week and has received 40 video clips, including one which has led to the identification of a burglar breaking into a house. The new website link was announced on Tuesday, July 12 and it allows the public to upload video footage from their home security cameras or smart doorbells that shows suspicious activity.
As these video surveillance devices grow in popularity, some homeowners are discovering they have video footage of suspicious characters walking through their garden, down the driveway or up to their doorstep, even if their homes have not actually been burgled.
READ MORE: Drunk mum who suffocated baby spared prison due to mental health
Detective Inspector Tony O’Brien of Merseyside Police’s burglary team, known as Operation Castle, said: “During the last four years, since Operation Castle was established, the team has already been successful in reducing burglary by 59%, with burglary offenders serving sentences totalling more than 600 years. The new submission portal for video footage is another tool that our detectives can use to help put more burglars behind bars.
“Sometimes homeowners discover they have video footage of someone that they assume is just a trespasser, snooping around the outside of the property. Often, they do not realise its potential evidential value, but this sort of footage can help us build a case.
“We are very pleased with the positive response from the public to our appeal of not publishing video footage like this on social media and instead, sending it to us so we can assess its evidential value. The Operation Castle team is already following some interesting lines of enquiry and detectives will be interviewing a convicted burglar about further offences revealed in a video clip submitted via the new portal.
“The new portal link is aimed at circumstances where there has been no crime reported, but the suspicious behaviour could potentially be related to a burglary."
Det. Insp. O'Brien highlighted two recent cases, from before the introduction of the portal, which saw burglars convicted thanks to CCTV. Former "one man crime-wave" Robert Osu, 43, and his accomplice John Khan, 51, were jailed in January for burgling a student house on Jamieson Road, Wavertree, on December 7 last year. CCTV footage from a home camera captured the pair scoping out a house.
As Khan stands with the bike, keeping watch, Osu walks up to the house and tries the front door handle whilst staring into the downstairs windows. The force said at first glance, this may appear to have been someone calling at the house, but this clip helped Operation Castle investigators build a case
The pair took laptops, keys and bank cards from the property, and were also convicted of an attempted break-in at a house on nearby Langdale Road. Osu was jailed for three years and three months, while Khan received three years.
Another burglar, 38-year-old Carl Parkinson of no-fixed-address, was also jailed for 12 months for three attempted break-ins at addresses in Crosby thanks to CCTV footage.
Anyone who discovers video footage on their home security camera, smart doorbell ora dashcam that shows someone acting suspiciously on their property can upload it for the attention of the Operation Castle team here.
You can share any other information you think is useful via the Merseyside Police social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’, or via Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form here.
READ NEXT:
Return of Target One: Could Curtis Warren fill EncroChat void?
Memorial plaque for killer Raoul Moat appears on bench at Merseyside seaside resort
Liverpool Council chief executive Tony Reeves resigns
Man, in his 30s, dies after crashing Mercedes on M62
'Strange' symptom of new covid strain affecting people at night
