Hidden or obvious, working or not, home security cameras can deter thieves.

Scott Kramer

On a quiet late December evening, my wife and I were watching TV downstairs in the family room. All of the sudden we heard a loud crash upstairs followed by glass raining onto the patio. We quickly realized somebody had thrown a rock through our bedroom window. Apparently it was most likely part of some stupid TikTok challenge that was engaging teenagers at the time. We immediately called the police.

Within minutes, they were at our side examining the scene. They asked if we had any footage. Unfortunately, all of our home security cameras were in the front of the house. They suggested that we install some motion-activated lights and cameras on the back and side of the house. But then after talking with them for 20 minutes or so, they did admit that even if we were to grab footage of any nefarious activities, it was unlikely to result in any arrests. In fact, they said that kids and vandals today have no fear whatsoever of video cameras because they’re so commonplace. They wear face masks and hoodies anyway, so it’s not like any cameras will reveal who they are. Especially in low light, night time situations like ours.

One of the police officers went even further and said we don’t really need a functioning camera outside. An old broken camera will do just as fine as a deterrent, as long as it's prominently displayed somewhere.

I agree. For 10 years now, I’ve had a broken Blink camera installed over our garage door. We will never know if it’s been good at thwarting off burglars, but we have not had any questionable activity out front since I installed it. Mind you, I have other functioning cameras placed at various points around the house too, both indoors and outdoors. But I'm still not sure what use they would be, if somebody were to actually break in. Especially if the people were disguised.

Two of the cameras I have are from Kami. And honestly, I think the service is terrible. Every time I want to check out videos or a live video feed from them, I have to suffer through advertisements for 30 seconds to a minute. I don't pay for the service, which is probably why I am forced to watch it. But for some reason the ads seem completely inappropriate for these apps. Especially after people pay good money for the cameras.

I think the camera at our front door is probably the most useful. Because if somebody rings the doorbell, I can quickly check it and see who's there without having to open up the door. And also, when we are out of town, I can see if anybody has left a package on our porch.

Our friends put up a pricey, sophisticated wired security camera system this past weekend around their house. When I told them what the police officers told us, I could see a look of disappointment on their face. As if they hadn't thought the whole situation through. But they did say that this gave them more peace of mind, knowing that the cameras are out around their house.

Personally, whenever we go out of town now, I set up several old phones around the house perimeter as security cameras through the outstanding AlfredCamera app. It’s simple to use, it’s free, and it’s better than or as good as every paid service I've tried. I suppose the bottom line is do whatever gives you a sense of security.