We are really not quite sure why this idea has not caught on before now. The idea of law enforcement partnering with the community to catch burglars using homeowners’ security cameras. Check out these stats, some from our article entitled The Ultimate Home Security Guide. The article points out that according to statistics a home burglary occurs every 13 seconds with over 60% of them happening during daylight hours when the burglar thinks no one is at home.
“Police usually only clear 13% of all reported burglaries due to lack of witnesses or physical evidence.” There is another reason why so few burglary crimes are solved. There are so many of them that the police department just doesn’t have the manpower to pursue them.
So you put all of that together; an overabundance of burglaries, lack of physical evidence or eyewitnesses and a shortage of manpower to solve the crimes and you come up with what Illinois law enforcement officials are calling a voluntary “Block Watch” program whereby residents volunteer to check their Home Security Cameras Videos for images that may lead to the arrest of a home burglar.
According to that story “home surveillance videos have aided investigators in previous investigations and increase the likelihood of identifying and apprehending burglary suspects.”
The idea piggybacks on the highly successful Neighborhood Watch Program that has been in existence for nearly 40 years and is the preeminent way for civilians to help prevent burglary in their neighborhoods. Since the start of the program, burglary has declined by nearly 30% across the country. Perhaps not all of it is due to neighborhood watch, but certainly neighborhood watch can take part of the credit.
What is involved with the “block watch” program is to get residents who have outdoor surveillance cameras to register their cameras with the local police department. If a burglary occurs in your neighborhood, police will know what cameras are nearby and may be available to assist in their investigation.
The program is voluntary and participants’ identity is kept confidential.
The article points out that surveillance camera system pricing “has fallen substantially in the last few years and now offers easy installation with the use of wireless technology. Video surveillance is an effective complement to existing home alarm systems to protect your property, and most manufacturers now allow remote monitoring via smartphone when integrated with your home network.”
Our article entitled ‘Fighting Perps With Twitter And Facebook’ puts yet another spin on how to use surveillance cameras. Once the image of a burglar is captured, citizens and or the local police department have been posting the images of the burglar on social media with the idea of catching them. This technique has met with great success.
Here is another example from the CBS affiliate in San Francisco of how a local man suspected of burglary was caught after his image was captured on camera from a home surveillance system.Our set of four wireless security cameras has a perfectly matched 2.4 GHz wireless receiver that allows for video to be streamed remotely. The cameras have a 300 foot line of sight range and can capture video in complete darkness with infrared technology. The cameras can be used indoors or outdoors because they are completely weatherproof.
Do you have any experience with this technique? Please share your experience. We want to hear your thoughts.