[PLUG-TALK] Outdoor video cameras?

Keith Lofstrom keithl at kl-ic.com
Tue Sep 22 23:33:13 UTC 2020


On Tue, Sep 22, 2020 at 12:03:04PM -0700, John Jason Jordan wrote:
> About three weeks ago $350 worth of Ryobi yard tools (leaf blower and
> edger) disappeared from the back of my little pickup, 

I imagine the black market for stolen yard tools isn't
very deep.  The thief will either voluntarily make Portland
more beautiful (a win, sorta), administer street drugs
VERY painfully (also a win), or attempt to sell the tools.

Buy an engraver, and put name and phone number on tools.
That makes them harder to sell to a pawnshop or a used
tool store.  Craigslist and Ebay?  Watch ads for a while.

Sell to informal yard-workers?  Those workers are already
hassled by cops and the INS.  Unlikely they will take the
risk of buying tools with your name and phone number on
them.  In an enlightened nation, the informals would call
the cops and earn "immigration points" for reducing crime.

> Where it sits in the driveway the wall of the house is right next to
> it, so cameras are what springs to mind. I'd have to position them high
> enough that thieves can't reach them, and I want cameras that have a
> big red light that flashes - so thieves get the message.

I'd put the flashing red light and a fake lens in one
place, the actual cameras in hidden places.  The black
market for stolen cameras is a lot deeper than yard
tools in tech-savvy Portland.

----

I am also thinking about purchasing cameras - mostly to
watch for porch pirates.  I purchase a lot online recently;
most deliveries are delayed, and occur at unexpected times.

Besides cameras at the house, I would deploy some out near
the street, looking in both directions, so I can record the
other houses the porch pirate visits.  I'd want images with
fractional-second time-stamps and with enough resolution to
see license plates.  That way I might catch a few speeders
as well, before they run over neighborhood children.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com



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