Assistance to law enforcement through ambient vigilance

1. A method of using cameras in a plurality of vehicles belonging to citizens which are not part of law enforcement and governmental authorities within a geographic area to aid in identifying a location of a vehicle of interest for authorities comprising the steps of:

a computer receiving an alert to search for a vehicle of interest and a location from the authorities;

the computer sending a notification of the vehicle of interest to a plurality of vehicles within a radius of the location to activate rear-facing cameras of the plurality of vehicles without notifying occupants of the plurality of vehicles;

the computer receiving a vehicle of interest recognition from one of the plurality of vehicles indicating that the vehicle of interest had appeared in the rear-facing camera in the one of the plurality of vehicles; and

the computer sending at least a location and a time of the vehicle of interest recognition to the authorities.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification is sent to the plurality of vehicles to be received by a communication device selected from the group consisting of: a global positioning system receiver, a cellular connection inside the vehicle, a handheld communication device, a wireless data device receiving rich site summary feed, and a receiver for near-field protocols.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer further sends a make, model and color of the vehicle of interest to the authorities.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from license plate identification.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from imaging of a grille of the vehicle of interest.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from imaging of a bumper of the vehicle of interest.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of the computer receiving a notification from the authorities that that the vehicle of interest has been found.

8. A computer program product for using cameras in a plurality of vehicles belonging to citizens which are not part of law enforcement and governmental authorities within a geographic area to aid in identifying a location of a vehicle of interest for authorities comprising a computer comprising at least one processor, one or more memories, one or more computer readable storage media, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by the computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving, by the computer, an alert to search for a vehicle of interest and a location from the authorities;

sending, by the computer, a notification of the vehicle of interest to a plurality of vehicles within a radius of the location to activate rear-facing cameras of the plurality of vehicles without notifying occupants of the plurality of vehicles;

receiving, by the computer, a vehicle of interest recognition from one of the plurality of vehicles indicating that the vehicle of interest had appeared in the rear-facing camera in the one of the plurality of vehicles; and

sending, by the computer, at least a location and a time of the vehicle of interest recognition to the authorities.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the notification is sent to the plurality of vehicles to be received by a communication device selected from the group consisting of: a global positioning system receiver, a cellular connection inside the vehicle, a handheld communication device, a wireless data device receiving rich site summary feed, and a receiver for near-field protocols.

10. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the computer further sends a make, model and color of the vehicle of interest to the authorities.

11. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from license plate identification.

12. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from imaging of a grille of the vehicle of interest.

13. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from imaging of a bumper of the vehicle of interest.

14. The computer program product of claim 8 , further comprising receiving, by the computer, a notification from the authorities that that the vehicle of interest has been found.

15. A computer system for using cameras in a plurality of vehicles belonging to citizens which are not part of law enforcement and governmental authorities within a geographic area to aid in identifying a location of a vehicle of interest for authorities comprising a computer comprising at least one processor, one or more memories, one or more computer readable storage media having program instructions executable by the computer to perform the program instructions comprising:

receiving, by the computer, an alert to search for a vehicle of interest and a location from the authorities;

sending, by the computer, a notification of the vehicle of interest to a plurality of vehicles within a radius of the location to activate rear-facing cameras of the plurality of vehicles without notifying occupants of the plurality of vehicles;

receiving, by the computer, a vehicle of interest recognition from one of the plurality of vehicles indicating that the vehicle of interest had appeared in the rear-facing camera in the one of the plurality of vehicles; and

sending, by the computer, at least a location and a time of the vehicle of interest recognition to the authorities.

16. The computer system product of claim 15 , wherein the notification is sent to the plurality of vehicles to be received by a communication device selected from the group consisting of: a global positioning system receiver, a cellular connection inside the vehicle, a handheld communication device, a wireless data device receiving rich site summary feed, and a receiver for near-field protocols.

17. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the computer further sends a make, model and color of the vehicle of interest to the authorities.

18. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from license plate identification.

19. The computer system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle of interest recognition is derived from imaging of a grille of the vehicle of interest.

20. The computer system of claim 15 , further comprising receiving, by the computer, a notification from the authorities that that the vehicle of interest has been found.