BURGLARY PREVENTION- Video Can Be an Important “Eye Witness”

On March 4 Edmonds Police Department detectives briefed a standing room crowd of Edmonds residents on how they can help prevent burglaries in their communities. While long planned, the timing of the briefing came after a series of burglaries in the Chase Lake area in the past two months.

While the Chase Lake burglaries no doubt helped turnout to the meeting, detectives did not have much to say about them since they are continuing with an active investigation into the burglaries. Detectives did focus on burglary prevention techniques that homeowner and business owners can use.

One of the techniques that the detectives emphasized was the use of video used in conjunction with a security alarm system. Video can act as an eye witness to a burglary, package theft or other theft. It often provides quick identification of a suspect. And it “provides powerful and undeniable proof of guilt.” Law enforcement agencies need evidence to make an arrest. An eye witness who can identify a suspect is very rare in the case of burglaries. Recovering stolen property takes time. Identifying the rightful owners of stolen property can be difficult. Forensic evidence such as DNA or fingerprints can take up to 12 months to process.

Their recommendations included,

·         Pair a video system with a home alarm system. The alarm system can disrupt a burglar and notify you that someone is in your house or building while the video can show at least part of what happened and who did the burglary.

·         Use a video system that records day and night, seven days a week. Be sure that it records the images to a DVR that you can review later.

·         Purchase the best quality system that you can afford. Low resolution video does not help in identifying suspects. Medium to high resolution video can be very helpful in identifying people and vehicle license plates.

·         Many security services offer around the clock monitoring. If you choose not to sign up for a monitoring service, consider a system that can send you an alert to your cell phone when it detects motion.

·         Place signs and/or window decals in visible locations to warn potential burglars they are being recorded.

Some common mistakes that people make with video systems include,

•       Camera is located too high. At one time, security professionals recommended that cameras be place high and out of reach. This gave a wide field of view and made it more difficult of the burglar to steal the camera. This made some sense when cameras were expensive. However, the Edmonds PD points out that placing a camera at a high level can make it difficult to capture a suspect’s face. And with high quality cameras being much less expensive, replacing a camera is not as onerous. One piece of equipment to protect is the DVR. This would have the evidence of the burglar stealing the camera, but if the DVR is in an easily found place, the burglar can take the box that holds the evidence of his theft.
•       Cameras with low or poor resolution. Medium or high-resolution cameras are available for sale.
•       Cameras that are placed too far from the point that need to be monitored. If the camera is supposed to monitor your front door it should be close enough to give a good view of what is going on and be able to identify any suspects.
•       Not recording the video. If you cannot show the patrol officer or deputy the video, why have video. Video can be stored on a DVR or with a security service’s computer servers in “the cloud.”

Whether you choose outdoor cameras, a door bell camera or indoor cameras, having video can be an inexpensive way that helps detectives find and charge a burglar.

You can watch a video of the meeting here,

Edmonds Police Department/YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZygvyKvDeV0&feature=youtu.be