Studies show that having a camera on your property can help ward off criminals and even serve as a key tool in helping to solve crimes committed in the vicinity. On Tuesday, HomeHeadquarters announced some Syracuse residents will receive free doorbell cameras in an effort to help the community do its own policing.
Eight years ago, Rasheada Caldwell went through the unthinkable.
“On June 5, 2017, my son, Rasheed Baker, was murdered,” Caldwell said.
In the aftermath of his death, Caldwell became an advocate for her community, eventually becoming one of Syracuse’s common councilors, where her push for a safer city perseveres. Her latest mission? Giving residents an extra set of eyes through the View Forty-Four program.
“This program right here will give anybody an opportunity to receive a camera, a Ring camera,” said Caldwell.
It’s something she said would have made a major difference after her son’s murder.
“Had I had a camera, somebody, one person, it could have changed, you know, knowing something,” Caldwell said.
HomeHeadquarters will give away 90 Ring Cameras and one-year subscriptions as part of the program.
Once you own the camera, you own the video it records too. That means HomeHeadquarters or the Syracuse Police Department — which supports this program — can’t access it without consent.
“You don’t have to share it with anything,” Caldwell explained. “But if you have it and you want to share it, if something happens, share it. This is how we keep our communities safe.”
While Ring cameras can be a great resource in helping to solve crimes, residents applying for the program say they’re hoping the camera can help prevent criminal activity before it even happens.
“There’ll be a lot going on around this neighborhood,” said Monique Taylor, a View Forty-Four applicant. “So a Ring camera would be good to, you know, so that I could be able to see when I’m not home.”
Taylor is moving into an apartment above her daughter who already has a Ring Camera. She said that camera has played a key role in her daughter catching porch pirates.
“People have been coming on her porch stealing her chairs, they’ve been coming in her backyard stealing her trash cans, like, every other week,” Taylor said. “Her trash cans have been coming up missing, which is weird, just little stuff like that.”
Heather Roche, who filled out an application for her parents, said she hopes the camera can help give them peace of mind — and maybe even make their lives a little easier.
“I feel like if there’s someone out there, or it’s late at night and they need to go check on their car doors, make sure everything’s locked up at night, they can take a look at the camera just to make sure everything’s safe out there,” Roche said.
Anyone can apply for the View Forty-Four program and applications will be approved on a first-come, first-served basis. Only 90 cameras are available now, but Home HeadQuarters says it’s actively working to raise more funds to purchase more cameras and subscriptions for the community soon.
The first 90 Ring cameras and yearlong subscriptions were purchased with funds from the Allyn Foundation.
