Going through Costco earlier this week I stopped at this display for a home security camera system. It wasn’t the first time I have seen one of these systems but it was the first time I actually could imagine buying one. Up until this point I pretty much thought of these things as overkill for the seriously paranoid.
My perception of this technology began to change when I read the story about the “preppy burglar” in September of 2010. A home security camera system caught the preppy perp on tape and he was arrested and charged within weeks along with some of the stolen loot.
Earlier this year, a late night mailbox mauler was wreaking havoc on curbside mailboxes in our community. People were waking in the morning finding their mailboxes trashed and tire marks on the lawn. This continued unchecked and unsolved until he hit a home rigged with cameras. In short order the mailbox mauler was nabbed and charged.
Last month, certain neighborhoods throughout HoCo were plagued by daylight thieves stealing UPS boxes off of front porches. Eventually, the thieves hit a home with the cameras and now the police have a better idea of who they are looking for.
Last year, my neighbor was broken into. Though it appears his home was targeted, it was still a little too close for comfort. I don’t think they’ve caught his crooks yet. In October there was even an armed robbery just down the street. And this is supposedly a nice neighborhood!
What intrigues me is the very proliferation of these relatively low cost systems may in and of itself, deter more property crimes like these.
Put another way, if someone ever breaks into my home, a five hundred buck camera system would seem a very small price to pay to get a good look at the jerk who did it.
