Allen Park Police start Operation Extra Eyes

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Allen Park is one of the fifty safest cities in Michigan and the residents want it to stay that way. That's why they're supporting putting extra eyes on the streets in a network of surveillance cameras.

It never hurts to have an extra set of eyes in the neighborhood and cameras don't lie - making them crucial to police work. That's the idea behind a new program geared towards making crime fighting in Allen Park a little more visible.

"I'm putting more cameras up on the outside to show the parking lot and even the street area so if there is an accident maybe they can see that," owner of Alexander's Dry Cleaning, Alex Alexander, said. "They want a little more community involvement and I'm glad to be part of this."

Alexander deals with police on a professional basis and was all in when he heard about Operation Extra Eyes. He was so on board with it, he decided to pay for it for others to participate.

"We have a lot of Allen Park Pd coming in here to get their clothes cleaned and uniforms cleaned and they noticed I have some cameras," he said. "I'll buy the stickers to put on all the windows police don't have to go door to door to see who has cameras."

Those stickers can be displayed in windows of homes or businesses and they let police know they have quick access to possible evidence and letting criminals know they are being watched.

Unlike programs like Project Greenlight in Detroit, police are not tapped into the cameras at the station - for the sake of the homeowner's privacy.

"The police don't have access to your recording right away unless you give it them permission to come and take a look in case there was a break-in at your next door neighbor's house or a car accident down the street, they can look at it and see exactly what happened," Alexander said.

The program just started. Anyone living in Allen Park with a surveillance system can stop by the police department and sign up.