Curious: do you all have monitoring cameras (for crime) on your private property?

[SKL]

I am curious how common this is nowadays.  Are these affordable?  It's starting to sound like a no-brainer, if the cost isn't too high.

Thoughts?

[Arcadia]

We don’t but we live in a condo and our neighbors have ring cameras and other kinds so our corridors are very well monitored. My friend who lives in a single family home has a ring camera setup and that was how she found out her son sleepwalks. She sometimes forget to close her garage door so it is useful for her to have the setup. 

[wendyroo]

We have a security camera in the garage. It is 50% for crime prevention and 50% to monitor what my incredibly impulsive children are doing. We also have two signs, one outside the garage and one inside, stating that there is a camera recording.

OTOH, the camera was no help when my son's bike was stolen out of the open garage. We could see the person come in and take it, but they were only in there for a couple seconds and it would have been hard to identify their face. Whatever, it was a crappy bike, and maybe they needed it more than we did. We chose not to pursue the issue, but to start closing the garage door even if we were just going to be in the backyard for a few minutes.

Edited to add: We also have a Ring doorbell, but I don't know how to access the video. But don't tell my kids that because I can get them to fess up to who snatched what and who hit whom just by saying I'm going to go watch the video.

Edited June 23 by wendyroo

[MEmama]

No

[Annie G]

We don’t. Tried to install one for our detached garage but the WiFi doesn’t reach even with an extended range device.  There are some that don’t use WiFi, but it’s just not ideal for us. 

[Laura Corin]

No.

[Dmmetler]

We have trail cameras to watch outside critters, and now one is watching the little free library. They have USB cards. We get great pictures of raccoons, opossum, and the neighbor's outdoor cats. 

 

We set up cameras with motion detection inside when we're not home, using the Alfred app and my teaching iPads so we can keep an eye on the cats (and verify that the pet sitter made it over to feed them). 

 

In both cases, maybe they might be useful if something happened??

[Clarita]

Yes. Our camera can read license plates and is pretty snazzy (better than we would have actually bought but due to a shipping snafu we got it for free).

[Pawz4me]

We have five outdoor cameras, but the reason we installed them was 99.5 percent for watching wildlife. We have very minimal concerns about crime. We have very much enjoyed seeing all the critters that roam around at night.

[wintermom]

We have one (working on the back directed) camera in our vehicle.  Don't have any on the house yet, but thinking about it. The issue is the microphone. We don't want anything on our property audio recording US. We have no control over where that goes and who is listening. 

Edited June 23 by wintermom

[annandatje]

No.

[J-rap]

We sold our home a few years ago, but no.  

[gardenmom5]

yes.   I originally got them after our . . . ..  "house guest" . . . left last year so I'd have evidence of anything if he came back.

TWO WEEKS LATER . . . I had video of a would-be porch pirate who came a good two hours after the Amazon truck. (the item had already been brought inside.)
I've also saved clips of sketchy people who've come to the door.

I have more cameras that still need to be installed.  I realized I want one that points back towards my garage doors so I can easily tell if they're open or not.

i've got video of the neighborhood bobcat, . . . I watched the cleaners that dh had hired as a surprise for me arrive (I was in Texas) . . . . 

now - if they could just stop being activated by bugs . . . .

[Pintosrock]

Yeah, we put some up about a year ago.

Three years ago, we bought a pony and told all the neighbors not to feed him, as he has a medical condition and needs a special diet. Then, a year ago, we bought a new pony. I began to notice the gates were often "mauled" - not closed exactly the way I shut them. I figured the neighbors thought they could feed the new pony, but everyone denied it. The cameras showed it was the new pony mouthing the gates. 😀

[gardenmom5]

Oh - dsil is rather paranoid about things (he had an ex-girlfriend who was assaulted in her apartment, that's where it comes from) so he has them all over.

he's had some great video . . . incl.. the suburban that ran over the brick mail box house (destroyed it) and tried to keep driving. . . .chewed up the grass on the parking strip.  she didn't get far, she broke her axle.

[TheReader]

We have some, yes. Ours are Arlo.  We're happy with them.

[elegantlion]

No. We live in apartment. A few of our neighbors do. We generally don't have issues with porch pirates here and there is supposed to be no soliciting. I did have one package taken, but it was misdelivered across the breezeway. They claim that they put it on our front door, but it went missing before we got home. Ironically, it's the only package that has ever went missing here. I think other people in the household had opened it and thought they had a "right" to it because it was misdelivered. They have since moved and I've had no problems since then. Fortunately, I got my money back from Amazon. 

When we get a house, I will get something. I'll probably have more stuff delivered to work too or my mom's because she is home all day. 

[Spryte]

Yes. We initially bought them for wildlife and keeping an eye on the bazillion kids in our yard for years. A year or so ago there was a man casing houses and going through all the backyards on our street, so now I’m pretty happy about having them.

Driveway, side yard, back door, pavilion (facing house). 

We do not have a doorbell camera or anything that monitors our front porch door or sitting area. That’s intentional. 

[zimom]

1 hour ago, gardenmom5 said:

now - if they could just stop being activated by bugs . . . .

I have Ring and Blink.  Both allow me to adjust the sensitivity to help reduce being activated by bugs, because yes, it is a problem.  You can also turn off the LED night camera that attracts the bugs.   If you have either of these brands, explore the app as you will find all kinds of flexibility.  

I use Ring for the doorbells, but Blink for the yard.  The Blink cameras seemed cheaper overall, but I like the Ring doorbells.   You can use the Blink with or without a subscription fee ($10 for unlimited cameras).  I don't remember about the Ring but I am paying $10 a month.  I am home frequently alone so just like the extra security, I can tell people at the door I'm not interested without ever opening the door.   However, ultimately my german shepherd provides most of my security as he isn't letting anyone near me that I don't want.  

Oh, I just remembered, the reason we placed the Blink around the yard is the fence gates were opened a few times and we couldn't figure out how.   The last thing we want is our dogs running free.   They have a dog door from the house to the yard, are not kept outside.   This has not happened since we placed the cameras up although we also placed extra ties around the gates in case they were coming undone on their own.  

[Pawz4me]

Our cameras have also come in handy since a stray cat adopted us at Christmas. We may eventually convince her to become an inside cat, but so far she's not having it. But I can sit here on the couch and use the cameras to track her movements and see what she's up to (current status: snoozing under a front porch rocking chair).

[Indigo Blue]

We have nothing. One ds has a ring camera. One always has a dashboard camera on. 
 

We have Nest thermostat. We could have something hooked up with that. Ds would do it, but we’ve not done that yet. Or we could get Ring, I suppose. 
 

What I’d really like to have is a simple driveway gate that goes across the drive out close to the road. Something nice such as a black iron gate. A simple one. 
 

 

Edited June 23 by Indigo Blue

[gardenmom5]

1 hour ago, zimom said:

I have Ring and Blink.  Both allow me to adjust the sensitivity to help reduce being activated by bugs, because yes, it is a problem.  You can also turn off the LED night camera that attracts the bugs.   If you have either of these brands, explore the app as you will find all kinds of flexibility.  

I use Ring for the doorbells, but Blink for the yard.  The Blink cameras seemed cheaper overall, but I like the Ring doorbells.   You can use the Blink with or without a subscription fee ($10 for unlimited cameras).  I don't remember about the Ring but I am paying $10 a month.  I am home frequently alone so just like the extra security, I can tell people at the door I'm not interested without ever opening the door.   However, ultimately my german shepherd provides most of my security as he isn't letting anyone near me that I don't want.  

Oh, I just remembered, the reason we placed the Blink around the yard is the fence gates were opened a few times and we couldn't figure out how.   The last thing we want is our dogs running free.   They have a dog door from the house to the yard, are not kept outside.   This has not happened since we placed the cameras up although we also placed extra ties around the gates in case they were coming undone on their own.  

I can adjust the sensitivity.  I won't turn off the light because I want the night vision - and for two of them, it's much too dark to see anything without it.  

the ones that have been installed have 360 rotation with four set points.

[gardenmom5]

9 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

We have nothing. One ds has a ring camera. One always has a dashboard camera on. 
 

We have Nest thermostat. We could have something hooked up with that. Ds would do it, but we’ve not done that yet. Or we could get Ring, I suppose. 
 

What I’d really like to have is a simple driveway gate that goes across the drive out close to the road. Something nice such as a black iron gate. A simple one. 
 

 

It's always a good idea - there are ceiling mounted cameras that will get front and back.

I was lucky that I could get city traffic camera video of the time I t-boned a guy in his truck (i take satisfaction his brand new two month old truck was totaled).  The accident was entirely his fault, but because I t-boned him, until I had video proof (and even with it) our common insurance company blamed me.  The judge didn't agree and they were forced to pay us more.  He's lucky 911 refused to dispatch police, he would have been ticketed.  the city traffic camera video made the rounds of the police station.

[QueenCat]

We have cameras... break-ins really aren't common here, but dh still wanted to do it. They mostly capture the wildlife during the night & the kids behind us, coming inside the fence to retrieve their balls. Something they know they don't need to knock for, just come on & get them. The front cameras mostly capture us & the multitudes of delivery people. 

[ScoutTN]

No, but my mom has them in her assisted living place to prevent theft.

[mmasc]

We just have the Ring doorbell on the front door and a ring camera (no doorbell) on the back door. I’d love to have some mounted cameras to watch the critters, but haven’t gotten any yet. 

[Clarita]

We also installed wildlife camera in the backyard. That one though is mostly for the deer. There are/were a few spots in our backyard where the deer can come into our yard but struggle getting back out (are because one of the spots relies on deer not to be able to get into my neighbors yard). It's nice to know the deer are in our yard so we can chase them out. There's a spot that they can get out on but they never prefer to do that on their own.

[marbel]

No, we don't have anything. It hasn't seemed necessary where we live. If someone comes to the front door unexpectedly, I just don't answer it. (I do keep the doors locked.) Sometimes I'd like a ring door things but honestly there is no need for it. We've never had porch pirates and more often than not someone is home with a package is delivered. 

We do sometimes have kids hopping our fence to go through our yard, but the worst they do is trample a plant now and then, and I'm not going to call the police on them. 

[Catwoman]

Yes, absolutely. 

I honestly don't know anyone in any of our 3 neighborhoods who don't have security cameras of some kind, even if it's only something simple like a Ring doorbell. Most people have full security systems. We live in very low crime areas, too. 

[Wheres Toto]

We have a Ring doorbell.  It sits next to the gate into our yard, which is at the back of our driveway so it mainly gets our cars coming in and out, and anyone that drives by if one of us isn't home so it can see the road.   We mainly use it to see when packages are delivered.  It's also come in handy once or twice when someone stopped by  when the kids were home alone and dh could talk to them through the Ring. 

Our "front" door is actually at the back of our house so you would need to go through that gate and walkaround the house to get to the door. 

[lmrich]

Yes and at my daughter's home where she saw on the camera her being stolen. She called the police immediately and the car was recovered in an hour. I just installed two blink cameras at my home. We also use blink cameras to try to see wildlife. They are easy to install and use. 

[KungFuPanda]

No, but we live on a really boring street. 

[Eos]

No, but we sometimes set up a game cam in the woods, usually in the winter.

[Terabith]

We don't.  We also almost never lock our doors.  

[Carrie12345]

4 cameras to cover all 4 sides of the property. Partly for crime deterrence, partly to check for bears, and a little part for evidence in case certain crazy relatives should ever dare to find our new location and show up.

What really annoys me is now our system is calling deer “someone spotted” instead of general motion. It still freaks me out.

[strawberries]

We just have a trail cam for wildlife. 

[TheReader]

10 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

4 cameras to cover all 4 sides of the property. Partly for crime deterrence, partly to check for bears, and a little part for evidence in case certain crazy relatives should ever dare to find our new location and show up.

What really annoys me is now our system is calling deer “someone spotted” instead of general motion. It still freaks me out.

re; this -- I had to re=read this about 3 times before I realized you meant "(person) spotted" instead of it saying "motion detected" or what have you (ours is able to determine person vs animal so I guess it didn't dawn on me what you meant).   The first time I read it, I thought it was literally calling the deer (and I'm picturing a fawn, obviously), "someone spotted" -- as in, a spotted someone -- and I was all "wow, what a descriptive camera! how funny!" 

 

[Sneezyone]

No cameras, no guns, no nothin’ here but I’m sure my neighbors do. My DH mentioned getting a ring but that’s mostly b/c our doorbell isn’t working and he likes gadgetry.

[TechWife]

We have a doorbell camera and a camera that records action on our patio leading up to the back door. 

[GailV]

Nothing here, but my neighbor is turning 99 this year and her ability to be All-Observant-Snoopy-Pants is waning, so who knows what the future will bring.

Seriously, she came over one day to yell at a visitor to our house because she didn't like the way he parked his car in the street in front of our house (NOT in front of her house, I repeat, in front of our house).

[prairiewindmomma]

Yup. The whole neighborhood is wired with night vision cameras and motion lights. 
 

Arlo has the best night vision cameras and amazon and costco tend to run good sales, especially on the multicamera packages . Get battery backups for your hardwired systems. In addition to a doorbell camera, I recommend one over your driveway and ones in the backyard (including gates and patio door) if you have property crime in your area.

We saw a dramatic drop in opportunistic property crime once everyone visibly wired up. In our area it was organized thieves, and there are now easier neighborhoods to hit in my vicinity (and the crime statistics reflect that).

[jrn]

Absolutely. Cameras are covering all points of entry. 
We use eufy and have been very happy. I love that I can input a picture of family members and it will tell me who is on camera. 

[LifeLovePassion]

Yes, Eufy brand. No monthly fees. 

[Shelydon]

No. We live in a area that has not had crime at all in the last 25 years. 

[gardenmom5]

How timely

 

we just had a neighbor stop by asking if we had any security cameras facing the street. (we face two streets - "the dead-end street" and the private road our house and several others are on) Houses tend to be set back, lots of shrubs and trees.  He said when he moved in a year ago (he's in a rental) he thought about getting security cameras but "this is a nice neighborhood" . . . 

His car was stolen.  lo and behold - I have footage of it.  I have the exact time, and the kind of car they were driving (silver kia sportage?).  I had a clear view of his parked car, the kia shows up - four mintues later it leaves and his car is gone too.  and while it was parked there - someone came flying down our hill on a scooter pulled onto our private road and did a youy - and back to the kia putting it in on the passenger  side (facing my camera).  My son literally passed them on the street as he came home right when they were here.  I had even looked out and seen them and thought "that's a really weird place to park".

Working on getting the footage (several clips) downloaded so it can be forwarded to the police.  all of it is time/date stamped.

oh - it was 7:11 in the evening!  Sunset is after 9pm!  these guys are brazen.

I told my son to put an air tag in his car (well hidden and hard to access).  He parks next to our house.

Edited June 25 by gardenmom5

[Sneezyone]

10 hours ago, GailV said:

Nothing here, but my neighbor is turning 99 this year and her ability to be All-Observant-Snoopy-Pants is waning, so who knows what the future will bring.

Seriously, she came over one day to yell at a visitor to our house because she didn't like the way he parked his car in the street in front of our house (NOT in front of her house, I repeat, in front of our house).

We had a neighbor like that. I miss her nosey pants self. I’m sure most perps assume my yuppy neighbors are armed to the teeth (mostly for show) ala the Mccloskys and they wouldn’t be wrong. Worst thing I’ve seen/heard was a 3a drunk leaving the road to plow into my neighbor’s suburbans (yes, two), tree and fence. Fortunately, the driver escaped their upside down car unharmed. One month later ServPro (not really) made it look like it never even happened. 

Edited June 25 by Sneezyone

[DawnM]

we have cameras that face the driveway towards the street and then one that faces the front yard.

We have always lived in very low crime areas so we aren't overly worried about that (our house is in a neighborhood of sorts, but everyone has an acre or more so it isn't a targeted area for crime), but we do want to see when packages arrive and see when the bus is here for A to get to school/camp/day treatment.