Copper thieves are out
Sam Crutsinger
Virgil/Canton the night before last. Got away with some copper lines.
Apparently someone cleaned out the HVAC units over the Galaxy Club that same
night.
I'm helping one of my neighbors price out a video security system to nail
some of these guys.
I figure that for about $1800 I can build a pretty sophisticated system with
4 cameras, web access to recorded video, and motion/sound detected
triggering of captures. I can do a single camera system for about half that.
It's a little expensive, but compared to a whole AC unit, I think a camera
on the roof is a good investment. Not to mention that you get a nice video
view of the skyline if you set it up right. =)
I have a system I built with spare parts around my loft. Of course my loft
looks like it's out of Bladerunner, so I've got lots of spare parts to
choose from. It ran me about $150 for my single camera setup. I'm recording
all activity around my car on Virgil 24/7 now and woe unto the inevitable
jackass who breaks into my car this time. I'll have him on video, and if I'm
really lucky I'll have video of me taking him down, beating him senseless,
and sitting on him till the cops come on the same saved clip! =)
I had someone set off my car alarm last week, but the computer I use for the
security system was being used elsewhere so I didn't catch the footage. When
I went outside I had the usual one homeless guy coming towards me saying,
"The guy went that-a-way! Can you spare some change?" I'm sure he was the
one, but without proof, what can ya do?
Something I've been considering for a while is the idea that if enough
people are wanting to put up cameras around the neighborhood, maybe there's
a chance to get a bulk discount on cameras. I haven't done any research
other than to come up with the idea. I was hoping this list would have more
people on it before I brought up the idea, but it's Spring and break-in
season is upon us. Anybody got any brands they like. Mine's pretty much
crap, but it has audio so I can hear people coming and going.
Once I get to the point where I'm not broker than Humpty Dumpty, I'll be
putting in a better camera.
I've formulated that if there's a full moon on a weekend and the night
temperatures are in the low 70s, it's almost guaranteed that my car alarm
will go off. Well, this victim is taking it back. I'm on the hunt!
--
Sam Crutsinger
Media Kingpin / CTO
Confidence Bay
http://www.confidencebay.com/
Edit in confidence... Anywhere.