BATON ROUGE - For the last 10 months, the Baton Rouge Police Department has been monitoring and working with crime cameras in Sherwood Forest. More and more cameras are playing a role in police work.

There are now 16 cameras and license plate readers - one at every entrance in Sherwood Forest. It's part of a pilot program between the City-Parish, BRPD, and Sherwood Forest.

Gary Patureau is a Sherwood Forest Crime District Commissioner and has been instrumental in getting the cameras online and connected to the Real Time Crime Center within the police department.

"Our officers can actually see what's going on within the subdivision as it happens," Patureau said. "It's their ability to have eyes and ears within a subdivision."

That technology can pull up a certain color of a vehicle at multiple angles. It finds cars that are stolen and plates with warrants. The cameras provide a sense of security for people living there.

"It's not only crime-solving, it's crime prevention, too," Patureau said.

While police have been working with the Sherwood Forest cameras for the last few months, cameras in Tara were connected to the Real Time Crime Center last month. Patureau says dozens of other neighborhoods are in talks to be brought onto the same system.

With the cameras and the help of citizens through Connect Blue, police were recently able to catch a couple of car burglars in Sherwood Forest. That surveillance linked them to other car burglaries throughout the parish.

"That's really part of the Connect Blue concept," Patureau said. "Their residents are cooperating to catch people who are committing crimes."

Police continue to encourage people to sign up for the Connect Blue Directory. If you're part of the directory and a crime happens in your area, police may contact you for a copy of your surveillance footage.

The cameras in Sherwood Forest were purchased by the neighborhood crime district.