Crime Prevention

Started by HappyJ • 9 replies • 1455 views

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HappyJ (Tennessee)
Posts: 21

Posted:

We have a relatively quiet neighborhood. Recently, we had a random shooting. The individuals just drove thru the neighborhood shootig at cars in the middle of the day. I have noticed several neighborhoods installing cameras. Any suggestions? Has anyone on the forum placed cameras in their neighborhoods?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Happy,

What is it you are hoping the cameras will do?

MikeS1
Posts: 521

Posted:

Every year we our pool was vandalized and anytime during the year, the kids like to hang out in the pool parking lot at night and of course they would throw all their beer, wine and booze bottles into the parking lot and common area. We don't need any more glass in the pool parking lot. This year we posted signs and installed 4 cameras with DVR. No more problems at all. Also, with all the vehicle breakins, residents have installed a lot of their own cameras and in a lot of cases, you cannot even see their cameras at all. Neiborhood watch signs and regular patrols by volunteers also has helped. "Eyes and Ears Only".

HappyJ (Tennessee)
Posts: 21

Posted:

We are looking to deter crime or at least have footage for the police to view, most of these crimes are happening late at night or midday when nobody is out

HappyJ (Tennessee)
Posts: 21

Posted:

Mike
I was told by one law enforcement officer that cameras could only be placed so that they record only the street, or else someone could say we were invading their privacy. How expensive was the cameras? We don't have any amenties to place the cameras at, so we would have to put up poles or use the streetlight poles to record the vehicles coming in and out

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

A HOA is should NOT be in the crime prevention business. That's not to say a system of crime prevention should not exist. It just means the HOA should NOT subsidize it. I would instead set up a completely separate Neighbhorhood Watch. Let the neighborhood watch keep an eye on the place and handle the crime. Albeit that the neighborhood watch will be members of the HOA. However, keeping it separate from the HOA structure seems to work better. Plus renters can also be part of the neighborhood watch.

Your local police department should have an officer available to give information about forming a neighborhood watch. Invite them to a HOA meeting or have a special meeting for just that purpose. It's best to leave the crime fighting to the experts and use their advice...

Former HOA President

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By HappyJ on 09/25/2012 5:18 PM
We are looking to deter crime or at least have footage for the police to view, most of these crimes are happening late at night or midday when nobody is out

As you know cameras, just like locks, don't really deter crime they just help keep the honest people honest by removing temptations. However, having cameras to help identify the individuals (when eye witnesses are not available) is certainly helpful.

As Melissa stated, there are differing opinions on if the Association should become involved in security (vs. only maintaining the common areas). Yes, an argument could be made that security could be considered part of "maintaining" the common area if the area is being vandalized.

Irregardless of which side of the issue you are on, I believe that it will boil down to risk assessment and liability issues.

To minimize any liability, the Association should have a clear policy on any monitoring, custody of the equipment, custody of the tapes/images, how they will be used, who has the authority to review the footage, how often the footage will be kept, etc. Additionally, when considering the installation, the Board needs to not only look at the initial cost but the increase in utilities (electric) and revising the reserve study to include the cameras and associated equipment maintenance/replacement.

Hope this helps,

Tim

MikeS1
Posts: 521

Posted:

Happy - There are no expectations of privacy any longer (perhaps in your own home). I don't know of any statutes in VA that state that a camera (pointed in my front yard) violates anyone's privacy. Then, I'm going to agree to disagree with others here when I say that they mere presence of the camera has deterred crime around our community center. We've discussed placing them elsewhere in the community, but we would need internet connectivity, someplace to safely install the cameras and power as well. Good cameras that work well at night can be purchased on the web for $200-300, but they can go for as much as $500. Then the DVR system is about $500 to $1,000. ..or you can buy an IP camera if you're within 200-300ft of a wireless hotspot. At the community pool house and parking lot, we have a wired DVR system with 4 cameras . There are 4 signs that show that the property is monitored (two on the building and two on the pool fence). There are also "no trespassing after dark" signs in the pool lot. This is the first year that we have not had any incidents. The system is setup to send alerts via email or smartphone at night. The cameras have also helped with documenting situations during the day with pool staff and/or incidents with pool patrons. Although we have not had any incidents, I think that since folks know that the cameras are there and it keeps them on good behavior. We do know of another community that used the video to defend a court case for a slip and fall at their pool and the footage destroyed the plaintiff's story. Cameras are evolving fast and in a few years, you'll see a lot more of them. We are located right outside of Washington DC where they have one the highest concentration of municipal cameras in the county. After a few years, it will be like it is in the U.K. and Europe.

MikeS1
Posts: 521

Posted:

BTW - Happy, the prices on this equipment is coming down all the time. One last note - Our property manager monitors the system. If vandalism or an event occurs that we want to look at, it retains about 3 weeks activity. You can also export pics and video from the system whenever you wish.

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MikeS1 on 09/26/2012 5:44 AM

Cameras are evolving fast and in a few years, you'll see a lot more of them. We are located right outside of Washington DC where they have one the highest concentration of municipal cameras in the county. After a few years, it will be like it is in the U.K. and Europe.

Just yesterday the Mesa AZ police department announced that it is now equipping all of its patrol officers with video cameras worn on their uniforms or eyeglasses. This ought to end a lot of disputes over who said what and did what.

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