One of the most obvious common sense observations about homebreakers is their desire to avoid detection. But they want not only to be unobserved while committing the crime, but desire to leave no visible trace of themselves afterward.

A video surveillance system can help thwart both their goals.

Just seeing that you have a set of video surveillance cameras will motivate most thieves to seek an easier target. It’s a sign that the homeowners have taken steps to secure their home, and they know the cameras are likely to be only one aspect of a total plan.

Video cameras give you a real-time view of what is going on outside (and, if installed, inside) the home. That helps alert you to any suspicious activity, such as some stranger casing your house for later illegal entry.

It also allows you to record both sound and visuals for later playback. That helps if someone decided to take the risk anyway. Many thief has been convicted on the strength of identification made by a video recording.

Systems come in two basic types: covert and overt. Hidden and in plain view. The overt type is discussed above and provides a means of warding off potential break-ins.

The covert type serves two purposes. One aspect is the basic function provided by visible system – to view, record and playback. The other provides an additional function that is sometimes useful.

Not all burglaries are done by a stranger breaking into your home. Some are carried out by gardeners, housekeepers, babysitters and other hired individuals to whom you’ve entrusted access to your home. It’s less common. Most are just hard-working individuals like you. But it does happen.

If advertised, but not displayed, a covert system can serve the purpose of an overt one by discouraging the crime in the first place. If they don’t know where the devices are, they may well decide to leave everything alone.

Systems vary in price and sophistication. Some are essentially simple camcorders of the type you might use to record the kids, but mounted inside or outside the home. Most add the ability to remote monitor anything the camera has within view. That monitoring could be inside the home, at a professional company or even to your PC at work.

Others of more recent design can be connected to a PC where increased functionality becomes available. Software on the PC can control movement, provide additional storage space for longer recordings, edit the recordings, turn the devices off and on at programmable times and more.

You might not want, for example, to be recorded inside or outside at times you are home. Even though it’s your system, it can reduce your sense of privacy. You may want to turn it off when you know it isn’t needed. But automating the process allows you to not forget to turn it back on when, say, you leave the house. It can be programmed to turn on when you open and close the front door.

Still more sophisticated systems may include motion detectors, or start the camera when motion or sound is detected and other features.

Technology can help protect your home like never before. Systems start at a few hundred dollars and range up to a few thousand. Which one is right for you depends on your level of vulnerability, the value of what you have to protect and other individual circumstances. Check one out today. You’ll breath easier.

Tags: homebreakers, homeowners, motion detectors, potential break-ins, Video cameras, video surveillance systems