Privately owned surveillance cameras are increasingly providing leads to law enforcement during investigations, and police departments, such as the Williamson County, Texas, sheriff’s office, are encouraging the public to register their video surveillance cameras.

According to Government Technology, registration programs allow deputies investigating crimes to know who might have surveillance video that could be useful, especially as many cameras are more discreet.

Williamson County Sheriff Robert Chody says that the office’s camera registration program was started May 31, and already 100 people have signed up. Residents can enter their name, the number of cameras and their general locations on a website so if there is a crime in the area, investigators can ask to view footage to see if it captured the incident.

“A resident may not know the value their video has until we tell them,” says Chody. “But we won’t know they have it if we don’t know they have a camera.”