Your doorbell cam could become London’s newest crime-fighting tool, and no, the police aren’t planning to binge-watch your daily deliveries.

The London Police Service just rolled out CAMSafe, a brand new camera registry system that’s got everyone talking. Think of it as the ultimate neighbourhood watch, but with a tech twist that would make your Ring doorbell jealous.

Here’s the deal: if you’ve got CCTV cameras at your home or business, you can now voluntarily register them with London police through this free system. But before you start panicking about Big Brother watching your every move, take a breath—this isn’t some dystopian surveillance nightmare.

The police can’t actually access your camera feeds directly. They’re not sitting in some control room watching you water your plants in your pyjamas. Instead, when they’re investigating a crime in your area, they might reach out to ask if you’ve got any relevant footage that could help solve the case.

The registration process is pretty straightforward. Homeowners and business owners can sign up by providing their contact information, and they have the option to include camera locations and screenshots if they want to be extra helpful.

What’s interesting is how this whole thing works in practice. During investigations, officers can contact registered camera owners to request video evidence—but only when it’s actually relevant to what they’re looking into. It’s like having a direct line to potentially crucial evidence without all the legal red tape of traditional surveillance requests.

The system launched earlier this month, with the London Police Service promoting it across their social media channels. They’ve been pretty clear that this is all about community collaboration—getting residents and business owners to work together with law enforcement to make the city safer.

Privacy seems to be a major focus here. The police have emphasized that your privacy and control over what information you share are their top priorities. You’re essentially volunteering to be part of a community safety network, but you still maintain control over your own footage.

For anyone interested in joining this modern-day neighbourhood watch, the registration process happens through camsafe.ca. The website has a “Register Now” button on the front page that walks you through the entire setup process step by step.

The London Police Service has positioned this as a collaborative effort to improve community safety across the city. It’s free, it’s accessible to all London residents, and it could potentially help solve crimes that might otherwise go unsolved due to lack of evidence.

This type of camera registry system represents a growing trend in modern policing, where technology and community involvement intersect to create new approaches to public safety. Rather than relying solely on traditional patrol methods, police forces are increasingly looking to leverage existing infrastructure and community resources.

The timing of the launch suggests the London Police Service has been planning this initiative for some time, rolling it out as security camera technology becomes increasingly common in residential and commercial settings across the city.