Operation Watch Dog
Submitted by William G. Parenti, Chief of Police
The North Plainfield Police Department is committed to a productive partnership with the community. In an effort to expand that partnership and provide more comprehensive services to the community the North Plainfield Police Department initiated Operation Watch Dog. This program encourages residents and businesses to register their privately owned home/business video surveillance in efforts to increase safety and reduce crime. The department recognizes that crimes can be committed at any place or time and that home/business video surveillance may have captured vital footage that could help solve crimes in our community. During a criminal investigation our officers are often unaware of the many residences and businesses that have surveillance systems that may have captured footage of value to the investigation. Having knowledge of the location of a surveillance system in the area of a crime could be instrumental in a successful resolution.
There are several benefits to registering with the North Plainfield Police Department Operation Watch Dog. It expedites the retrieval of footage from surveillance systems close to the crime scene in an effort to uncover criminal activity. It also reduces the number of officers assigned to canvass the area around a crime scene searching for operational surveillance systems. This allows officers assigned to the investigation to be deployed to other tasks in the investigation thereby enabling a higher degree of efficiency of allocated resources. Please note that this program does not give police the ability to tap into any home or business surveillance feeds.
Operation Watch Dog is just another useful tool which offers residents and businesses the opportunity to partner with the North Plainfield Police Department in the fight against crime.
Residents who are interested in signing up are asked to visit the website below. You can enter your information and submit your registration online with just a few clicks.
northplainfield.org/government/departments/police/add_watchdog_registration.php
