Surveillance Camera Rebate Program to Expand

Last year, the city offered D.C. business, commercial, nonprofit and religious building owners and lessees an incentive to install surveillance cameras on the exterior of their properties to aid in criminal investigations. The idea was to provide grants of up to $200 for each camera purchased, up to a maximum of $500 for a private residence and $750 for a larger entity.

This week Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the surveillance camera rebate program — part of the Safer, Stronger DC campaign — was so successful that it was being expanded. “Over 1,000 applications for rebates were approved to fund over 2,400 cameras across all eight wards,” reported Michelle Garcia, director of the Office of Victim Services. Installed cameras must be registered with the Metropolitan Police Department, which has the ability to request video footage while investigating criminal activity that may have occurred within the vicinity of the cameras.

“The cameras have been used multiple times by the MPD and have helped significantly in the apprehension of criminal suspects,” said the mayor.