It said police released surveillance video from a nearby camera that showed the mother getting thrown out of the car and crying for help on the street.

The above was excerpted from an article I just read.  It concerned a young girl who was kidnapped while walking with her mother. The mother tried to get her daughter out of the kidnapper’s car, and was thrown out by the kidnapper. The girl was rescued unharmed.  More and more often I have seen mention of the police receiving information about a serious crime by checking video from cameras in the vicinity.  It perfectly illustrates the fact that home video cameras are useful to the police.

If something happens to you or your neighbor, the police are more likely to be able to find out who is responsible if they have good clear video of the incident.  If you do not have a surveillance system or your system is over four years old you should consider getting one for your home.  By today’s standards, anything with cameras less than 5 MegaPixels is considered old and if you are looking for a system, 5MP cameras should be your baseline.