Chicago (CBS)—a private network of community cameras is helping to solve the crime problem in Roscoe Village—anything will help solve the rising crime rate in its police district and Chicago as a whole.

As CBS 2’s Tara Molina reported on Wednesday, the coverage of these cameras is far beyond the doorbell cameras we usually see.

The camera is installed in a local enterprise and is very advanced. They are not only designed to help prevent crime, but also to solve crime problems.

"They are all outside. They are all public places," said Larry Peterson, the neighbor chairman of Roscoe Village. "We really wanted to act as a deterrent nearby, and for that, I think it worked. Obviously it worked well afterwards."

After the crime, that's it.

Peterson said that in some cases, the camera played an important role.

"Most of the time, this is part of the puzzle," Peterson said. "We have assisted law enforcement agencies in conducting multiple investigations."

Molina asked about recent examples. Peterson said that the latest case is still under trial.

Chicago police can access their footage, but as part of their privacy policy, they can only see videos related to police reports.

The system has been in operation for many years. The community groups acquired the system and the cloud network it is on, and it was up and running in 2018-completely relying on donations and funds for their activities.

"Initially, we bought all the hardware," Peterson said. "Now our budget has reached the point where it can offset some of the costs."

The cost of each camera in the system is approximately $1,000, and they are installed in businesses and homes throughout the community.

"We have about 20 cameras," Peterson said. "We don't talk about details."

But as the crime rate rises, people have more plans. This is part of the reason why costs need to be offset.

Peterson said: "We are now considering adding more cameras and re-evaluating the plan by 2022."

This is a plan unique to the Roscoe Village community. Unfortunately, the number of crimes that guarantee its expansion is not so.

Roscoe Village is part of the City Hall (District 19) Police District—from Lawrence Avenue in the north, Fullerton Avenue in the south, Lake Michigan in the east, and Chicago's Hebei branch in the west.

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Compared with the same period last year, the crime rate in the area has risen sharply in the past month-criminal sexual assault, severe assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft have all increased by 100% or more.

Peterson now says that they hope to use these to combat the specific violent crime they recently saw in the area-car shootings.

"So, if we can help solve these problems-identify these cars, help the police, for example, you know, they are here, and help track them down," Peterson said. "In terms of violent crime, this is one of the things we hope to affect."

The resolution of some cameras is high enough to share license plate information with the police.

Peterson said: "When your community is unsafe or the crime rate is high, you have to work very hard to make it disappear and make it a safe community," Peterson said, "but once you become a safe Community, you still have to work very hard to maintain this state."

We contacted the Chicago police to find out how they use and are using the Roscoe Village camera network. As of Wednesday night, they have not made any comments.