Monthly Archives: February 2020

Soldier in Iraq helps capture crooks burglarizing his Illinois home

Neighborhood Security, Safety

I saw this today (23 Feb 2020).  Score ONE for the good guys.  The headline actually read : “Soldier in Iraq captures crooks burglarizing his Illinois home with doorbell camera app”.  Just shows you the weird way  the media uses the English language, because obviously the crooks were not using a doorbell camera app to burglarize the soldier’s home, but were rather caught on the doorbell camera during the burglary.  A report can be found at : https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/soldier-in-iraq-captures-crooks-burglarizing-illinois-home-with-doorbell-camera-app/ar-BB10izZI

From the video attached to the report it appears that either the soldier has multiple doorbell cameras or several other cameras by a company which started by manufacturing doorbell cameras.  The main point is that security cameras do work.  Not all the time, but often enough they provide valuable information through which police are able to solve the crime.

There are now several “doorbell cameras” being offered for sale.  The most of them have a resolution of 720P with a few having a resolution limit of 1080P, which is fine for close up work (as in viewing a person standing still in front of the camera).  When those people are on the move, or further away, things tend to get blurry. For better security you need additional cameras. Today the standard for security cameras is 4K and anything less than 4MB  or 5MB should not be considered, with one exception.  I have several WYZE cameras for inside surveillance.  They are only 1080P but have several advantages like sound activation as well as motion detection, are relatively inexpensive, offer free 14 day storage  for life, and will send messages to your smart phone. With these cameras if someone breaks into your home and steals or destroys your cameras, your images are stored off site and can be recovered anytime within 14 days.

 

 

 

Portable Camera Stations Graham Washington

Interesting Things, Public Service Announcements

I was recently chastised by one of our neighbors because of my post about home security cameras and how the police are depending on them more and more to help them solve crimes.  While I was communicating with Dav Eide who runs the technical side of our Neighborhood Camera Network and Blog he sent me the below information:

Ironically, when I was shopping with Peggy Ann yesterday at the Graham Fred Meyer, I captured some photographs of a portable camera station.

The checkers at the Fred Meyer said this equipment was placed due to a big increase in homeless folks in the area and shoplifting at that store.

The checkers said the cameras stations were helping. See attached images. I was thinking about posting the pictures.

So, bottom line.  I’m sorry if my mentioning Security Cameras so frequently upsets some of our neighbors, but in today’s world I think it is important that we provide the police all the help we can give them.  Home security cameras will provide some of that help.

Portable Camera Station- Graham Fred Meyer

FM-1

 

Car Theft 122nd & Shaw Rd.

Neighborhood Events, Neighborhood Security

Last night I got a notification on my “Ring” network that a red 1967 Chevrolet Corvette, WA Collector Plate Number 58139 was stolen from the vicinity  of 122nd and Shaw Rd.  This is very near our Neighborhood. Below is the full notice:Car Theft 13 FebThe police are asking for the public’s help by checking their Security Cameras  for the red Corvette. There was no picture in the “Ring” post.  I checked our neighborhood cameras from 12:36 PM to 2:19 PM on the 13th and did not find any Corvette.

Woman Killed In Home Invasion

Neighborhood Security, Safety

A woman was killed in a home invasion robbery in Lakewood, WA on 11 February 2020. The police said that there is no suspect description yet, but officers were canvassing the complex for video surveillance and witnesses.

This is just another example of how home security cameras are actively searched for by the police when serious crimes occur. In this case the victim obviously did not have security cameras, but the police are searching for neighbors who do, in the hopes that they will show the killers.

If you do not have security cameras, you ought to at least know which of your neighbors do have active cameras, as opposed to fake cameras which do have some deterrent properties but provide no evidence the police can use.  Remember, even if you do not have security cameras your neighbors might.  If the cameras were installed over 5-10 years ago, they probably need to be upgraded. Most older cameras do not have the clarity of modern cameras and may not provide usable information to our local authorities.