CLAY COUNTY – Long before the usual tranquility of the early morning was interrupted by the piercing sound of a single gunshot that echoed throughout Doctor’s Inlet Reserve, surveillance cameras were already amassing inescapable evidence.

Like most criminals, five car thieves in Middleburg didn’t know their movements were being videotaped on June 30. Cameras recorded their entrance into the subdivision. Doorbell cameras captured them moving from car to car. While they were rummaging for petty treasure like loose coins and ear buds, the seriousness quickly escalated when they stole a handgun from an unlocked car and shot a resident as he left his house for a pre-dawn workout.

And it was all caught on camera.

Sony Lefleur, 30, eventually recovered after being shot in his right ribcage. He originally chased the car thieves away, but they quickly returned and shot him in front of his home.

Three teenagers, Jonathan Frison, 18, Raymond Rivera, 18, and Jeremaiah Stevens, 18, were in the Clay County Jail later that day. Members of the Clay County and Jacksonville sheriff’s office not only used surveillance video to identify the getaway car, but it used cameras to track Frison and Rivera to a Jacksonville store on 103^rd Street later that day.

Rivera, the suspected gunman, was charged with attempted premeditated murder; Stevens was charged with breaking into cars while armed; and, Frison was charged with accessory after the fact. All three are still being held in jail without bond.

“There are a lot of cameras out there,” said CCSO spokesman Chris Padgett.

Security and traffic cameras, in-vehicle computers and cameras, license-plate readers, body cameras, drones, cell phones, laptops and doorbells are among the newest tools for agencies to maximize their efficiency.

“This is the 21st century,” Clay Sheriff Darryl Daniels said. “Everybody has a computer. Everybody has a laptop. Everybody has a cell phone with access to the internet, and this is just another step in leveraging those technologies.”

While police departments and personal rights advocates continue to fight over the line between legitimate enforcement and the right to privacy, technology has become a necessary weapon to keep pace with the modern criminal.

“It helps us,” said Orange Park Police Department Sgt. Cody Monroe. “If you’re victimized, you wish you had it on camera.”

Neighborhoods and Home Owners Associations often install surveillance cameras that logs the time and license tag number of every visitor. A growing number of residents also have armed themselves with cameras that are activated by movement. Many neighborhoods have created systems to sends out a broad alert to the entire subdivision when something seems suspicious.

“The deployment of technology has helped us significantly, especially in the area of car and home break-ins,” said Green Cove Springs Police Chief Derek Asdot. “We can put together information from cameras and create a timeline of events that really helps.”

That’s what happened on Doctor’s Inlet Reserve.

“We have an internet group called Next Door that we all use to communicate on so if someone comes in here doing something like that [car burglaries], the entire neighborhood will know about it in minutes,” resident Mary Marcus said. “Plus, we have cameras hidden all around the neighborhood. People have cameras on their houses, too. When you drive in, there’s a big discrete camera at the entrance that can see your face.

“It’s a bad neighborhood to go after because we’re watching.”

Doorbell Wi-Fi video cameras like Ring, SkyBell and Nest not only alert residents to possible intruders, many can be monitored hundreds of miles away by their smart device and quickly shared with other residents and law enforcement.

Clay Community Connect operates in the same manner, but among businesses and law enforcement.

CCSO currently is trying to expand its C3 program that links the sheriff’s office with live business surveillance feeds. When a business pushes its panic button, the sheriff’s office automatically will be able to watch and react to the crime in real time.

“This type of partnership, this type of technology being leveraged is a game-changer,” Daniels said. “Everyone, including law enforcement, has some degree of responsibility in keeping our county safe. To establish partnerships like this, whether it be a real-time crime solution, surveillance cameras at a business – or the eyes, ears.”

The sheriff’s office already has the C3 system that will allow it to share their live video feeds with deputies. Stores are responsible for installing and operating their own systems, but there is no cost by the sheriff’s office to monitor the feeds.

“This thing has paid for itself tenfold in the time it takes to make justice happen,” CCSO Lt. Jeff Johnson said. “It’s reduced the time in the courts with the video. You can’t fight a video. We’re freeing up court hours.”

OPPD currently is in the early stages of considering the C3 program. Asdot said his department also is interested in exploring the program.

Green Cove Springs and Orange Park have red-light cameras at selected intersections. Although they’re always on, they’re only activated when someone runs a red light or makes an illegal turn. Even then, the camera only takes a picture of the license tag – but it still was enough to generate nearly $500,000 in fines for both Orange Park and Green Cove Springs last year.

Traffic cameras can be a tool since they provide live feeds for most busy thoroughfares. Most businesses are fortified with a system of cameras.

That creates a lot of eyes and ears to empower an officer in the field.

“There are different things we can utilize,” Padgett said.

Several CCSO cars are equipped with static license plate readers that can photograph more than 100 tags in heavy traffic every minute. Much of that data is stored – at the considerable objection of the American Civil Liberties Union – to map the time and place of each vehicle. The scanners also can alert law enforcement of a car wanted as part of a criminal investigation.

And while Padgett said his agency is working to assure checks and balances, he admitted there’s no escape from one simple fact: someone’s always watching.