This security camera is on the Cathedral of Saint James Episcopal Church in downtown South Bend. Staff photo by Michael Caterina
SOUTH BEND — Last August, 6-year-old Maliyah Davis was killed in a car crash at the intersection of Vassar Avenue and O’Brien Street after her grandmother reportedly failed to yield the right of way to another driver. It was partly because of footage from a homeowner’s private security cameras that recorded the crash that prosecutors were able to charge Reka Phillips with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and Victoria Carter, the child’s grandmother, with multiple counts of neglect of a dependent.
“Sometimes it is unimaginable how powerful that can be,” St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said about the use of surveillance footage in cases. “The Reka Phillips case is a very good example of that.”
Because of the role surveillance footage can play in criminal investigations, South Bend police are urging more businesses and homeowners with security cameras to register with the department. That allows investigators to be able to access a database of cameras when they start to investigate a crime. Some of the earliest leads in many investigations come from security cameras, Ken Garcia, a police spokesman, said.
This isn’t the first time the department has asked the community to register if they own a security camera. Police first tried it in 2014, but the reception wasn’t great, Garcia said.
“We are hopeful now that since we’ve been pushing for more community involvement, we’ll get more people who want to help,” he said.
Those interested in registering with the police department can go to police.southbendin.gov. Registering is free and police will never publicly share a person’s information, Garcia said. And police will never access someone’s cameras without asking them first.
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