Video Surveillance and Crime Prevention

Our neighborhood has undeveloped green belt across from us. Instead of a grid of streets open to arterial roads and other neighborhoods, we have 4 entries. As such, we are somewhat isolated and have the lowest crime rate in a major metropolitan suburban sprawl.

Over the next ten years, the green belt will probably be developed. We will get a lot more traffic along the main roads bordering our neighborhood. We can expect increasing drive-through traffic as those roads become parking lots during rush hour. Most important, we can expect more crime.

I chair the HOA Planning Committee. I think the most important thing we can do is to get ahead of that wave and mitigate the inevitable.

We have a volunteer Crime Watch patrol supervised and run by the police department. We will probably choose to hire some sort of paid security between Midnight and 6 AM in about 5 years. (Probably a neighbor, as an extension of the Crime Watch, rather than uniformed guards.)

Some neighbors suggest we become a gated community, but this is simply not feasible.

Drive-through can be mitigated by asking the police to strictly enforce traffic laws in our neighborhood during rush hour periods.

We are considering placement of video cameras at the four entrances to the neighborhood. The idea is to record every license plate that enters and leaves the community 24x7 and retain for at least 48 hours. (We could archive for much longer.) After any burglary or other incident, the police can request the feed for the appropriate period.

We will probably put up dummy cameras (i.e., shells, not functioning equipment) for about six months to see what kind of response we get. Neighbors generally won't respond to any notice (e.g., "We are going to place video cameras to record whenever you enter or leave the neighborhood! Everyone, please tell us what you think about this before we invest in it!"). Later, when they notice something or take an interest, some complain bitterly that we didn't tell them, didn't ask what they thought, made a decision for the neighborhood, etc.

Anyway, I'm looking for other ideas, other measures we could take, and especially thoughts about the vid cams. Of course, we need to let the neighborhood know and get feedback before we put in working cameras. Do we need 100% buy-in? Are there legal issues, especially privacy issues? I don't think so (notwithstanding anyone can be sued for anything), but does anyone think I'm missing something?

Note: We are a community of approximately 300 single-family homes with a self-managed HOA run by a board of 7 volunteers. We have no management company and only grassy Common Areas for assets. Our dues are less than $400/yr, mostly for the watering and mowing of those Common Areas.

No one has any reason to expect privacy in a public area, such as a street, so there is no legal issue with taking pictures of cars, plates, or drivers.

Getting a clear picture of a license plate, especially at night, might be a challenge. Best to consult with a local video surveillance company.

I used to work in self-storage, where everybody has video cameras. The biggest problem I saw was operating the recorders. No one ever seemed to know whether the images were actually being recorded and retrieval of images was almost impossible due to the lack of training. I would therefore make sure that whatever equipment you purchase includes training whenever you need it.

There would also be no reason why you could not set up a website where your residents could watch the video in real time as it is being recorded, much like a highway cam.

Michael...if you are wanting to go the video route there is no expectatino of privacy in public areas and therefore it is not against the law. Where you get into trouble with video is where someone might expect privacy, home, bathroom, changing room, etc.

Camera technology is excellent these days and allows for high quality images at a low cost. Plus technology allows you to record to a dvr for up to 2 or 3 weeks before the image is recorded over. I would suggest contacting a security firm or camera company for details. I don't think there is any expecation of signage needed, however, I would suggest putting up some signage that simply says "Video Cameras in Operations".

While there is a great debate about whether cameras actually prevent crime i think they do. Cameras keep honest people honest, criminals will do whatever they want. Cameras are becoming a mainstay in a lot of areas and are actually very affordable.