The 19th Police District in Overbrook is using new platforms to monitor crime throughout the neighborhood.
“The captain [Joseph Bologna] is a pit bull,” Jim Connell, lieutenant for Police Service Area 1, said. “He’s always looking for new ways to prevent crime.”
Operation SafeCam is crime prevention and investigation tool police are using to identify suspects of burglaries and armed robberies.
“If we get rid of little things, it prevents big things from happening,” Connell said. “It helps to know what’s going on in the neighborhood.”
Over the past month the area has seen a significant increase in robberies, burglaries, thefts and assaults according to crime reports from the Philadelphia Police Department.
Operation SafeCam uses tapes from business or personal security camera systems to view more of an area where a crime has happened. Police have found it most helpful for corner stores throughout the city.
Family Dollar, located at 56th Street and Lancaster Avenue, has seen positive effects since cameras were installed and registered with the SafeCam program.
“They’ve [the cameras] helped,” Dontae Wildes, an employee at Family Dollar, said. “When they see the cameras, they already start thinking this isn’t the store to steal from.”
Police look at city cameras first and then check the SafeCa- registered cameras in the area. Police are encouraging more people to register cameras so more areas will be covered. Registering with SafeCam is free.
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