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Home Security Cameras

need4mospd

need4mospd

Dec 22, 2005
1,534
9
44
Houston
#1
I turn to the greater TB wisdom on this topic as there seems to be a wide range of BS out there. After a recent break-in attempt at my home, I thought I could blow some more money to help keep me, my family, and my possessions safer. We've already got double deadbolts on every door with glass or glass side windows, an alarm system with door monitors and motion sensors, and 4 dogs in the backyard. I thought about getting glass break sensors as well, but I think a camera or two might be more effective at preventing any break-in. I figure a camera pointing at the door with a sign that said, "Smile, the owner of this house is probably watching you right now.", would at least give people second thoughts. And at least in my case, I'd have pictures of the tards to give to the police.

Any thoughts? Anyone done this cheap?

To those of you that think you're immune because you live in a decent neighborhood, you're not. You think you're safer because you live next door to a stay-at-home mom, retirees, and a work-at-home family across the street, well, maybe you are, but that didn't stop some punks from breaking MY front door glass.
 
#2
Buy a gun.

I'd think that putting up cameras might make you a little more of a target for some burglars, because cameras means that you usually have something valuable in your home (not saying your family isn't, but you get my drift). What you may just want to do instead would be to buy some old broken ones, fit a red LED in them, and just mount them. That'd probably be the cheaper way to go about things, and probably about as effective.

Newegg.com has some options for home surveillance, maybe give them a flip through and use their products as a base to start your research from.
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#3
need4mospd said:
I turn to the greater TB wisdom on this topic as there seems to be a wide range of BS out there. After a recent break-in attempt at my home, I thought I could blow some more money to help keep me, my family, and my possessions safer. We've already got double deadbolts on every door with glass or glass side windows, an alarm system with door monitors and motion sensors, and 4 dogs in the backyard. I thought about getting glass break sensors as well, but I think a camera or two might be more effective at preventing any break-in. I figure a camera pointing at the door with a sign that said, "Smile, the owner of this house is probably watching you right now.", would at least give people second thoughts. And at least in my case, I'd have pictures of the tards to give to the police.

Any thoughts? Anyone done this cheap?

To those of you that think you're immune because you live in a decent neighborhood, you're not. You think you're safer because you live next door to a stay-at-home mom, retirees, and a work-at-home family across the street, well, maybe you are, but that didn't stop some punks from breaking MY front door glass.
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you can rig one up fairly cheap....it's thealarm companies that want to sign you up for a monthly fee.....which means that a half hour after the thieves are gone a middle eastern gent will come and check out the damage.....first i would have a chat with mssrs smith and wesson for when you are home....these days home invasions are common here so a locked door buys you time to grab your gun....for the times you are out i'd rig up a very loud fire bell alarm and maybe add to it over time.motion sensors and win..dow contacts..window bars are cheap and never leave anything in the yard that can be used to climb up to a window
 
#4
sloasdaylight said:
Buy a gun.
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You do realize what state Houston is in right? There are more guns in my family than some small countries. One reason I might want better security on the house when I'm not there to grab a gun and defend it myself.

sloasdaylight said:
I'd think that putting up cameras might make you a little more of a target for some burglars, because cameras means that you usually have something valuable in your home (not saying your family isn't, but you get my drift).
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I hear people say this all the time, but I've yet to see any hard evidence that supports it. I've tried to follow the logic, but I think in the end it would serve as more of a deterrent.

Here's my reasoning:
There are two types of criminals that would break into a house when you are not home. Punk kids looking for a quick stash of easy to haul electronics & then "professional" thieves that would have cased the place and knew what was inside before hitting it. Punk kids would likely be scared of the cameras, the alarms signs, and the barking dogs. Even if they still carried through, those items cause them to hesitate, or at the very least they'll make it quick which means they won't take as much. If there's no pressure to make it quick, they have time to vandalize, snoop through the file cabinet and take important documents, and take larger more expensive items. The more deterrents, the better in this case. Professionals will not care if you have cameras, alarms, dogs, or bear traps. If they want your possessions, they will take them. Second of all, real professionals wouldn't run the risk with the cameras and alarms in a middle class neighborhood. If they've got 5 minutes to clean a house out, they want those 5 minutes to be productive.

Anyways, I'm just looking to see if anyone has any experience with cameras. Maybe someone has a link to a study about cameras as a deterrent?
 
#5
I have these posted

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#8
need4mospd said:
You do realize what state Houston is in right? There are more guns in my family than some small countries. One reason I might want better security on the house when I'm not there to grab a gun and defend it myself.



I hear people say this all the time, but I've yet to see any hard evidence that supports it. I've tried to follow the logic, but I think in the end it would serve as more of a deterrent.

Here's my reasoning:
There are two types of criminals that would break into a house when you are not home. Punk kids looking for a quick stash of easy to haul electronics & then "professional" thieves that would have cased the place and knew what was inside before hitting it. Punk kids would likely be scared of the cameras, the alarms signs, and the barking dogs. Even if they still carried through, those items cause them to hesitate, or at the very least they'll make it quick which means they won't take as much. If there's no pressure to make it quick, they have time to vandalize, snoop through the file cabinet and take important documents, and take larger more expensive items. The more deterrents, the better in this case. Professionals will not care if you have cameras, alarms, dogs, or bear traps. If they want your possessions, they will take them. Second of all, real professionals wouldn't run the risk with the cameras and alarms in a middle class neighborhood. If they've got 5 minutes to clean a house out, they want those 5 minutes to be productive.

Anyways, I'm just looking to see if anyone has any experience with cameras. Maybe someone has a link to a study about cameras as a deterrent?
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I don't know if there is any evidence to support that either, just kind of my gut feeling about the matter, I'm fully prepared to be wrong. Also I didn't see you were from Houston when you posted originally lol
 
#9
sloasdaylight said:
I don't know if there is any evidence to support that either, just kind of my gut feeling about the matter, I'm fully prepared to be wrong. Also I didn't see you were from Houston when you posted originally lol
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No prob. That was my gut feeling as well, but I've been doing a LOT of thinking about it the past few days. In my mischievous youth, we made sure to do things of questionable legality in places without cameras.
 
#12
First, I'd make sure the potential burglars see that it's actually difficult to get into your house. That means having at least somewhat secure windows and doors, and making sure you got adequate lightning outside, preferably with some motion sensors so everyone including the neighbours will notice if someone is sneaking around after dark. An alarm system with window and door protection is a good idea, too. Cameras scare the kids, at least, so it's not that bad idea. You could always rig them so that they are not in sight until you are close to the building.

About the cameras, I have a gut feeling that most basic wired cameras should be enough for a residential house, especially if you have good lightning outside. Often, even fake cameras suffice - I was working for a company that had problems with car break-ins at their parking lot, and a single fake cam fixed that problem. Then again, if you get a full DVR kit with four cameras for 300 bucks like from Newegg, it seems quite reasonable.
 
#13
hdracer said:
Not when 99.9% of the time SOMEONE is there. They don't know when. And one is on me.
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I'd bet 99.9% of us have a much lower occupancy rate. All it takes is a few minutes... With a 99.9% rate, you're looking at 45 minutes a month. :D

Like I said, if they know you have firearms inside, then your house IS more valuable to a criminal. Doesn't mean YOU can't constantly occupy it and make it MUCH less "valuable". Firearms to criminals are like candy to a toddler. Just saying, for those of us that have to leave our house unoccupied for hours at a time, advertising that you have firearms is a BAD idea.
 
#14
Tsal said:
First, I'd make sure the potential burglars see that it's actually difficult to get into your house. That means having at least somewhat secure windows and doors, and making sure you got adequate lightning outside, preferably with some motion sensors so everyone including the neighbours will notice if someone is sneaking around after dark. An alarm system with window and door protection is a good idea, too.
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Yep, this is pretty much my current home security situation. Though the lighting didn't matter too much as it happened to me at 8:30 in the morning at the FRONT door, fully visible from the street. The four dogs probably kept them out of the back and our side door doesn't have glass.
 
#15
First, Proper multiple firearms storage calls for a safe which if I was you I would consider anyway. You might want to consider a good gun safe even if you don't have guns to protect big ticket items like your basses and jewelry.

Second, Don't advertise big ticket items visible to outsiders. It amazes me how many people in my lower middle class neighborhood watch big screen TV's thru home theater systems visible to the whole neighborhood thru windows with blinds open.

I can't imagine camera's preventing theft if you have alarms and double glass windows with deadbolts and it hasn't worked. They might even steal the cameras. :rollno: Now leaving the dogs in the house when your gone would certainly deter some thieves. The other things I would add would be motion detection lights on the outside, and maybe a loud audible alarm.

Does your alarm system connect to the local police? What is their response time? One of the nice things about my very small Detroit suburb is the police response time. If it's longer then ten minutes, I can't imagine not having a personal firearm, I know this is an issue in some under policed urban areas, and spread out rural areas.
 
#16
burk48237 said:
First, Proper multiple firearms storage calls for a safe which if I was you I would consider anyway. You might want to consider a good gun safe even if you don't have guns to protect big ticket items like your basses and jewelry.

Second, Don't advertise big ticket items visible to outsiders. It amazes me how many people in my lower middle class neighborhood watch big screen TV's thru home theater systems visible to the whole neighborhood thru windows with blinds open.

I can't imagine camera's preventing theft if you have alarms and double glass windows with deadbolts and it hasn't worked. They might even steal the cameras. :rollno: Now leaving the dogs in the house when your gone would certainly deter some thieves. The other things I would add would be motion detection lights on the outside, and maybe a loud audible alarm.

Does your alarm system connect to the local police? What is their response time? One of the nice things about my very small Detroit suburb is the police response time. If it's longer then ten minutes, I can't imagine not having a personal firearm, I know this is an issue in some under policed urban areas, and spread out rural areas.
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All good input. A gun safe is a definite. I would not own a gun without one and they should be factored into the purchase of any gun.

Our house is incredibly hard to see inside. All you can see through the front windows are the stairs, the dining table and a dirty fish aquarium. That's only when the blinds are open and they are NEVER open unless we're expecting guests. The only way you could see the TV would be through the back yard, and again, blinds closed 100% of the time when we leave. The house is a visual fort when we leave.

The alarm goes to a monitoring service that calls the police if you don't answer their first call to your two phone numbers. Of course they'll call if you do and authorize it. As far as response time for the police, I've only seen one emergency response and it was roughly 5 minutes or less, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. I'd say from the time they broke in to the time a cop showed up would be 10 minutes at the quickest, maybe 15 at the slowest. We also live DIRECTLY behind a fire station. If they heard the alarm I bet they'd at least send one person over to check it out.
 
#17
need4mospd said:
Yep, this is pretty much my current home security situation. Though the lighting didn't matter too much as it happened to me at 8:30 in the morning at the FRONT door, fully visible from the street. The four dogs probably kept them out of the back and our side door doesn't have glass.
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In that case, I'd install some windows guards or plexiglass to the more vulnerable spots. Support a strip of thick plexi with a small steel bar, and it's going to be pretty hard to get through.

In general, it's impossible to make a building completely burglar proof, but you can make more difficult (or difficult looking), so that they go looking for an easier target. All unmanned/remote security stuff does, is work as a deterrent - including the security call center services. Reduce their percieved potential gain, reduce the ease of access and the time they have inside, or increase the possibility for them to get caught, and they'll go somewhere else.

If all else fails, just make sure your house looks better protected than your neighbours :p
 
#20
Stacatto said:
Indiana has about 3x the number of hand gun permits issued compared to Tennessee. That's over 300,000 in the state.

We feel safe, and pity Indiana criminals that don't know and respect that fact...
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I know three people personally who have shot people screwing around trying to gain entry ...

two of the three criminals died ... one is paralyzed...

there are lots of guns in Indiana...

I know more that have drawn a bead on someone or who fired warning shots...


Not a good place to be trespassing


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