My video doorbell led to prosecution of urinating man

"There is extreme anti-social behaviour going on," said Sally Evans, as she explained how her video doorbell caught a man using her front door as a toilet.

It resulted in his prosecution by Thames Valley Police, one of many forces in the south of England urging residents to register their cameras and CCTV systems to help them solve more crimes, more quickly.

The force said the uploading of more than three million items of digital evidence by people across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire had been "truly transformational".

Despite concerns from civil liberty campaigners, Sally said people should "absolutely register", because camera owners were "in charge" of what they choose to upload.

Sally said ongoing anti-social behaviour against her and others in her neighbourhood had been "a daily occurrence".

"My life's been traumatised," she said. "I didn't feel safe, I was worried every time I went out, even when I was in I was worried.

"The police have been great, but they're constantly called, not just by me, but by other neighbours, so I felt if I've got the ring doorbell, it just made me feel safe."

Sally was horrified when footage of a local man urinating on her doorstep appeared on her video doorbell smart phone app.

She believes he "did it for fun" and added: "It's not acceptable."

The man, Charles May, 49, from Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire, pleaded guilty to indecent exposure and criminal damage.

Thames Valley's digital and physical evidence operations manager, Kelly Scully, said: "The footage was very clear, it was shared in a timely manner and it meant we were able to get a successful prosecution."

In September last year, magistrates ordered May to abstain from drinking alcohol for four months, to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and pay £300 in compensation.

Thames Valley Police uses a system run by NiCE Investigate, and shared set-up costs with Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey Police.

Dorset Police is now also using the same system, so anyone in the central south of England can register cameras via their local force website.

Registering is voluntary and camera owners remain in control of what footage they wish to send the police via links sent out by investigators.

As of this month a total of 84,000 businesses and members of the public have voluntarily registered with NiCE Evidencentral across England and Wales.

Meanwhile, 26 police forces and organisations have deployed and are using the service in the UK.

NiCE Investigate said UK forces using its digital evidence management system had a map view of all registered cameras when investigating an incident, and officers could then send out an electronic request for the footage.

Kelly Scully said the police and NiCE adhered to data protection and privacy laws: "It's not like on the television where the police can suddenly just dial in and see exactly what's going on.

"The only time we will get evidence from you is if you choose to share it with us.

"Of course if you've got something that's useful to an investigation, then we're always going to want you to share that, because the more we get from the public in order to secure a prosecution against offenders the better.

"We get around half a million pieces of digital evidence on the system from businesses for Thames Valley alone, but our biggest draw is from members of the public.

"To see the difference this made is considerable."

Sally Evans said having a home surveillance system had made a huge difference to her too.

"For such a small amount of money, it's made me feel so much safer, so much so that I've actually got three of them now - two in the back and one at the front," she said.

Regarding May's conviction, a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: "Thames Valley Police take incidents of this nature seriously and will continue to work with the community to ensure offenders are brought to justice.

"In this case, footage from a Ring doorbell camera was instrumental in securing a conviction.

"Registering your CCTV or video doorbell with Thames Valley Police through NICE can help officers quickly identify and access footage that may be vital in investigations.

"It's a simple way to support policing efforts and help keep your neighbourhood safe."