Home security: Home invasion 3 years ago |
- Home invasion 3 years ago
- Did I purchase the wrong switch? Working on my first home video surveillance system.
- Yesterday someone attempted to enter my locked gate, then stole my mail
- Sony Cameras with built in AI people detection coming soon
- Is there a substance that can be rubbed on a security camera to make animals attack it?
- How would you put outside security cameras in my case?
- Something to think about
- What To Do About Neighbor Messing With My Mail?
- Good evening team, New here ...please be gentle. I am closing on a new home Friday. Got a quote for security from a national company (Vivint) and a local company. Looks like they both want to charge an arm and a leg for cameras.
- Thinking of getting abode but having some second thoughts.
| Posted: 14 May 2020 06:02 AM PDT In February 2017, I was the victim of a attempted burglary / home invasion. After discovering this subreddit last night, for some reason I could barely sleep last night and I can't get it out of my head. Maybe some kind of residual minor PTSD or something. I'm putting [CAPITAL BRACKETS] around parts of the story that I found out about after the fact by talking to police and neighbors. This is from memory, without looking at my notes. I live in a 3BR house in the suburbs of northeast Austin. I lived alone when this happened. All the house lights were off, and my truck was parked in my Garage. Normally I went to bed around 9 PM, but the I had been out till 1 AM with friends from church. I was groggy. ---------------------------------------------------- [ AROUND 3:30 AM SUNDAY MORNING, MY NEIGHBOR'S ELDERLY MOTHER HEARS SOMEONE KNOCKING ON HER DOOR THESE NEIGHBORS ARE ACROSS THE STREET, THREE HOUSES DOWN THE ROAD. SHE SEES THEM THROUGH A CLASS WINDOW, BUT DOESN'T ANSWER THE DOOR. SHE WAKES HER SON AND ANOTHER MAN LIVING THEIR (CONTRACTORS), WHO ASSUME SOMEONE WANTS TO STEAL THE EXPENSIVE TOOLS FROM THEIR TRUCKS. THE TWO MEN DECIDE TO TAKE A WALK AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD ][ THREE PEOPLE CAME TO MY PROPERTY, ENTERED THE BACK YARD AND LOOKED AROUND FOR SIGNS SOMEONE WAS HOME. THEY GO BACK TO THE FRONT OF MY HOUSE, KICKED THE FRONT DOOR IN ] Around 4:30, I wake up to hear a loud bang. I assume some drunk just drove a car into my house...about a month before this three high/drunk teenagers drove their parents car into a different neighbors tree at 40+ mph, so I assumed it was a car crash I heard. [ TWO PEOPLE HAD KICKED IN MY FRONT DOOR. ONE OF THE PEOPLE ENTERING MY HOUSE HAD LONG BLACK HAIR. ONE WAS STAYING OUTSIDE TO WATCH FOR TROUBLE. THEY STARTED MOVING THROUGH THE HOUSE TURNING ON ALL THE LIGHTS AS THEY WENT ] I slowly stood up, turned on my bedroom light, grabbed a pistol that I kept next to my bed, and groggily expect to see go down stairs and have to deal with a drunk guy who just driven into my house. I hear voices, speaking Spanish (I don't speak Spanish). It sounds like they're outside my house in the driveway. [ SOUNDS ECHO REALLY WEIRD IN MY HOUSE...THE SCOUT OUTSIDE HAD COME INTO THE HOUSE, AND WAS YELLING AT THE TWO MEN OUTSIDE MY BEDROOM DOOR TO TELL THEM TO LEAVE. THE SCOUT MIGHT HAVE SEEN MY BEDROOM LIGHT COME ON, SINCE THE MASTER BEDROOM IS ON THE FRONT SIDE OF THE HOUSE FACING THE STREET. I HAD NOT BEEN NEAR THAT WINDOW AT THIS POINT. THE PEOPLE LEAVE MY HOUSE ON FOOT; I NEVER HEARD A CAR. ] As soon as I left the master bedroom, I noticed the light on in my guest bedroom and the door opened. I remember thinking "weird, I don't recall being in there recently". I walked past it (L-shaped hallway) and noticed the door open and light on in the next bedroom, which was a room I _never_ used. I walk forward into my loft, at which point I can see the front door is wide open. I didn't notice at the time, but part of the door frame was on the floor, and the door handle had smashed through the drywall when it was kicked open. I went back to the master bedroom, left the door open, and called 9-1-1. I went next to the window, as that gave me a view straight out of the master bedroom and down the hall. I figured if someone came down the hall, they'd have to cover about 25 ft to get to me...enough time to shoot them. [ MY NEIGHBORS SEE ME, A SHORT FAT GUY, SILHOUETTED IN THE WINDOW TALKING ON THE PHONE. THEY CALL 9-1-1 AND REPORT IT AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. THEY SEE THE FRONT DOOR OPEN, AND A SHORT PERSON IN THE WINDOW. ALL THE LIGHTS ARE ON ] Out my window, I see two mid-20s guys walk down the street. One is wearing pajama pants and no shirt, the other is in a "wife beater" and boxers. I tell the 9-1-1 operator. 8 minutes after I called 9-1-1, two cars from the Austin Police Department park in front of my house. Two officers get out, and run down the street away from my house. I hear yelling and see them run past (out the window). [ TURNS OUT THE POLICE SAY MY NEIGHBORS WALKING AROUND, AND CHASED THEM DOWN TO TALK ] After another 4 minutes, the police yell into the house from the front door. I tell them I'm the home owner, and I'm in the second floor master bedroom. They tell me to wait. I put my gun down on the nightstand. 9-1-1 operator hangs up on me. I realize the 9-1-1 operator had already hung up on me. I put my hands up; don't want to accidentally get shot by a cop. Police clear the house, guns drawn. When I see the first officer, I tell him I'm the home owner. He proceeds to clear the two rooms between us (guest bedroom and master bathroom). He doesn't seem concerned about me at the time. Once in the master bedroom, one cop asks for my name while the other is somewhere else in the house. The cop in the master bedroom is standing very close to me, between me and the door. He asks for ID, and then hands me my wallet after I tell him where it is. I provide ID. He's writing things down in a tiny notebook. The cops asks me to walk through the house with them and see if anythings missing. Nothing is. They ask about my girlfriend...over and over...repeatedly... (I had been single for years) [ AT THIS TIME, I DID NOT KNOW THAT THE NEIGHBORS HAD CALLED 9-1-1 AND REPORTED IT AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ] The cops had me sit in my kitchen...gave me permission to put on a shirt...and talked among themselves outside. They came back in and told me a detective would call me in the morning and gave me a case number on a little slip of paper (which is sitting in front of me as I type this). The cops leave. I type up everything that happened so I'd have a record, and email it to some friends so I have a timestamp. Notify my boss in case I can't make it to work. I had taken a few cellphone pictures. ---------------------------------------------------- The next day I call a contractor to fix the door...he says call back on Monday...then he says he can come out and fix my door but not for another 3 weeks! I push a sofa against the door, go to home depot to get stuff to jurry-rig it closed. I order a door armor kit from Amazon, buy some wood glue, drywall repair kit, and matching paint to do the repairs myself. Later that week, I'm installing the door armor kit after work and gluing the wood back in place, while carrying a pistol. I discover the door frame has more damage that was glued together by someone else...probably been broken into before. One of my neighbors (the ones mentioned earlier) and his wife come by while I'm working on the front door. The husband (Hispanic) doesn't speak, but his wife tells me what they had seen. Her eyes keep going to my pistol as we talk, but she doesn't say anything about the gun. I get a monitored alarm system installed, along with armor kits for all the exterior doors. I replace my back door (which was mostly a big glass window) with a steel door. ---------------------------------------------------- Two months later, I hear a bang at the front door...then nothing. The next morning I notice a dirty boot print on my front door. Door armor kits work. This has actually happened three times since. I was able to look up my case (by case number) on the police department website. A detective was assigned, but there was no other information. ---------------------------------------------------- Three years later, I'm still waiting for that "a detective will call you back in the morning" the police told me to expect. According to the police department website, there's no cases matching the case number I have. [link] [comments] |
| Did I purchase the wrong switch? Working on my first home video surveillance system. Posted: 14 May 2020 11:46 AM PDT Hello, first timer, I bought the Unify switch 8, model US-8 for use powering 4 IPcameras via PoE, but I see now that I have it in my hands it only has one PoE out port. Does that mean this particular switch can only power 1 PoE device or does PoE out mean something different? Thanks just trying to wrap my mind around all this and make sure I understand what I'm doing before I return it and buy a different model Also any recommendations on a good starting switch would be amazing - starting with 4 cameras but would like the option to expand up to potentially 8. price range $50-200, thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Yesterday someone attempted to enter my locked gate, then stole my mail Posted: 13 May 2020 05:24 PM PDT And I caught him in the act thanks to my security cameras and some dumb luck. I happened to glance up at my monitor and saw this guy open the mailbox, take something out, and start to walk off. I ran out with my roommate in tow as I threw my shirt on, gave the guy a yell and some curse words, he dropped the mail and then asked me for some water. Told him I would've given him some water if he hadn't just stolen my mail and told him off. Debated whether to file a police report or not, but when I watched back the footage I saw him go for the gate first, then the mail, that was enough for me to call it in. I have two cameras for the front of the house, the first covering the garage, which he actually saw as he walked up as he gave it a drunken nod. The second covers the mailbox, front door, and gate, he didn't seem to notice this one, not that I think he would've cared. The footage is good enough to get clear pictures of his face, but it has shown a weakness in my setup. Namely that if I had not looked up and seen this happening at the right time, I wouldn't have known to check the footage as the motion alerts are way too noisy and not useful. I'm using four reolink cameras and one hikvision recording to Surveillance Station. I need to play around with the line crossing detection feature more and see if that would solve my problem. Does anyone use a physical motion sensor (laser beamz) as a motion alert to trigger motion alerts for their cameras? [link] [comments] |
| Sony Cameras with built in AI people detection coming soon Posted: 14 May 2020 05:29 AM PDT will be able to detect people, animals without internet connection. Very useful for security cameras https://www.engadget.com/sony-image-sensor-ai-smart-cameras-070036055.html [link] [comments] |
| Is there a substance that can be rubbed on a security camera to make animals attack it? Posted: 14 May 2020 08:15 AM PDT Last Friday, my camera caught the movement of a finger up against the camera. It was quick but slowing it down showed it. Roughly a day later it was attacked and the IR cut filter was destroyed by a squirrel. I thought it was random until a few hours after the squirrel, a cat attacked it. I've had them forever and they've never approached the cameras, especially cats. I just find it coincidental that someone was messing with it a day, day and a half, before it was destroyed. Just curious. [link] [comments] |
| How would you put outside security cameras in my case? Posted: 13 May 2020 11:01 PM PDT Hey all, So I live in a condo and want to install security cameras around it, but I am not so sure how I would put security cameras on the porch side, here's the link of the side of the house and a very roughly 2D layout of it from paint: https://imgur.com/a/rlel5z6 So as you can see, there's an awkward wall splitting the porch in half, in order to have camera coverage for all of the porch, I would have to put two cameras, which is shown with my really bad paint picture. The problem with cam 2 is that it will be very low, about 6 and 1/2 feet high, which makes it very easy for people to snatch it away. I will install cam 3 regardless, which will somehow cover that part of the porch area. Would it be a good idea to install cam 2 at all? Is my plan for putting the security camera good enough, or how should I be putting my cameras? Thanks all. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 13 May 2020 11:56 PM PDT First off, if you're squeamish about the idea of having a gun in your house, don't be. I maintain two loaded firearms at all times, chiefly a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun as well as a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. I've never once had a negligent discharge and I've never had a child gain access to one of my firearms. As a matter of fact, my brother, being a father and a gun owner for longer than I have, has had his 1-year old boy gain access to a loaded firearm before. I personally have seen how it affected a classmate to accidentally shoot his brother to death with a 12-gauge shotgun. I'm a staunch practitioner of proficient gun safety. Whether you like it or not, the world is a dangerous place and criminals do not care about your preferences or views. Whether you own a firearm or not, they will victimize you if given the chance. It can happen to you and it likely will, according to the statistics. The only part you have control over is whether you have a firearm to defend yourself with. It may save your life. Making a hypothetical moral turpitude out of a simple choice such as whether to own a firearm will not make you any safer or make you any less likely to be burglarized. If you make the choice to not own a firearm, it may end up costing you your life. Get a firearm, become proficient in its use, learn basic gun safety. Guns are not deadly, the person behind the trigger is. As long as you do everything right, you'll be okay. But just remember, a gun in a safe isn't accessible enough in an emergency, nor is an unloaded firearm. You need to understand a mix between safety and readiness. I practice safety by exclusion. I keep my firearms away from children. Children are not allowed in my room unless I'm in my room, and I have an entire floor to myself. The adults in my house understand how to operate firearms in a basic, safe manner. On the other hand, for those that own guns for home defense: don't think that your gun is all you need to protect your home. Alarm systems, security companies and reinforced doors/windows will help to deter burglars. You don't want to kill anyone, it will absolutely fuck you up. Invest in deterrence and response. It might just stop you from getting burglarized or having to take another person's life. Me personally, I believe that if someone breaks into my house, they will get shot. It was their choice and I'm not responsible for that. However, that doesn't mean I want to kill anyone in the first place. If they can be deterred, that's what I want to happen. Remember, it's a great idea to own a gun for home defense and for defense in general. However, it's an even greater idea to invest in methods of deterring and hindering burglars and intruders. Your objective isn't to kill someone, it's to protect you, your family and your property. [link] [comments] |
| What To Do About Neighbor Messing With My Mail? Posted: 13 May 2020 07:32 PM PDT Today I went to check my mailbox and found something unusual. My mail had been thrown on the ground, but a letter was in my mailbox with the flag up. The letter in my mailbox had the name and return address of a renter across the street. It appears that the renter took my mail out of my box, so that they could send their own letter. I have no idea if some of my mail blew away before I got to it. What's the correct way to handle this situation? Should I contact the post office? The police? I was leaning towards contacting this persons landlord and reporting it to them. Any advice? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 13 May 2020 07:25 PM PDT The house is pre wired for cameras and sensors. i want my local company that did the pre-wired work to do the door, window, motion sensors, but they were too expensive for a 2tb 4mp 1080 cameras (8) for 950 and 6 for 750 ((supposedly discounted)). I was wondering if what i see at Sam's and Costco for less than 500 is a better value with better features. Would i still be able to use my living and bedroom tvs as monitors for the cameras? access to an app for away from home viewing? will i get an alert when they detect movement? I am so new to this that i tried searching and even the acronyms used are over my head. I nees genuine support and Don't know where to go, so i am counting on my reddit brethren [link] [comments] |
| Thinking of getting abode but having some second thoughts. Posted: 13 May 2020 06:11 PM PDT As title says I'm thinking of getting an abode system with no cameras as I will most likely be building out a full system of cameras for fun and use wyze in the meantime. My requirements is I want to be able to check and get notifications on my phone and I want the alarm to ring loudly if someone breaks in. I don't overly care if it's monitored as I don't think the police would be there in time anyways. I can get a full system with sensors for abiut 500 bucks to cover everything. The reason I'm having doubts is they changed their free model and I feel with my requirements I could just buy some zwave door sensors and hook them up to a hub and alarm or buy one of the small kits like aquaria? (sp?) and do just as well. I'm a fairly tech savvy person so there's a good chance I'd hook everything up and diy it fully eventually. But I like abode because of all its integrations it allows and free phone app if I decide not to pay. Anyone have any experience or thoughts running either of these routes? [link] [comments] |
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