Camera Systems For Home Security

Camera security for home security or Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) as they are more commonly called are one of the most common sights anywhere you go. There is actually a debate in parliament on whether the security advantages of having them installed in public spaces are worth the infringement of privacy and it is an ongoing debate. Some countries like the UK have even been called a surveillance society because they have the maximum number of surveillance cameras per person than any other country in the world.

Surveillance cameras are very effective as a deterrent, or so you thought because when anyone sees that a place is covered with cameras, it will deter them. The problem is that statistics show otherwise. The reason why the UK was brought into the picture is that with all their surveillance and recordings, cameras have helped solve only 3 out of every 1000 crimes. These statistics seem to imply that if a person really wants to do something he will, and you have just lost your advantage because the camera is really not a deterrent.

Recently newer technology like face or behavior recognition software have been tried out with the cameras so that any anomalies are picked up by the system itself which triggers an alert. This technology is however not fully developed and is still a number of years away.

The second thing is that for the security system to be effective, it needs to be constantly monitored which means that the system is itself only as effective as the people monitoring it. This also means that the running cost of this kind of system is very high. Most people just record what happens so that it will help them catch the culprit. The problem with this is that by the time you find out that an intruder has been in and you review the tapes, it is already too late.

Apart from all this there are very low tech ways to disable these systems. For example if you spray paint the lens, the camera is pretty much useless. A simple toy laser is sometimes sufficient to either blind the camera or damage them permanently depending on the strength of the laser used.

If you think that using wires to connect the cameras to the recording or monitoring stations are a security risk, wireless technology is even more of a security risk and can be easily hacked.

Security camera systems are really not what they are made out to be. They are very expensive to install, and are really not very effective at either deterring or solving crime. It just lulls us into a feeling of security without providing any. There are a number of lower cost but more effective security systems for your home that you should consider.