Cheapo CCTV systems

[barry2017]

Hello

A friend of mine had a visit from this pretty nasty sounding drunk who keeps bashing on her door and insistently asking for sex. It's not frequent, but it's happened before.

She's worried out of her mind, poor thing, and not well off. And I have sold a couple of bits on here so have a Paypal balance of about £50. I was wondering are any of these cheap CCTV cameras worth having? I live nowhere near her; could she self-install one?

Much as I understand the sentiment, please don't comment on the evils of society, or this drunk, or how you'd beat him to a pulp if he ever came round. That isn't helpful here. I just want some advice on CCTV systems.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jmsjabb]

Maplin have some cheap-ish systems and she can tap into their customer help line to help install

 

[ringo]

There's always the option of a dummy camera. Presumably your looking for a deterrent not as an aid for prosecution...

You could probably make one that would be good enough to fool drunk boy...

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

In my work i've seen a helluva lot of CCTV over the years and many of these cheapo digital systems thatr ecord to ahrd disk are vastly superior in performance to the old VHS systems that many shops still use, so i'd try and get something that connects to her PC.

I wouldn't bother with dummy camera - research has shown CCTV has no deterrence effect, it is useful only as a detection tool or for reassurance.

Useless fact - in terms of the cost of cameras and the number of crimes detected, the average crime detection via CCTV costs £450,000.

 

[barry2017]

It won't put him off, will it? :?

I wonder if a big PIR type floodlight might be better?

That, or maybe a dog.

 

[jmsjabb]

Could she not fit a viewer to the door and check out who is there before opening?

 

[barry2017]

That might be as good as anything. Not as reassuring though.

 

[jmsjabb]

Extra bolts / locks and a viewer would add reassurance. TBH, CCTV wouldn't put off an old drunk. What would he have to loose. Sounds as if he doesn't care. Is there a window above the door? If he comes around again, bucket of water from above? May just disuade him coming back if he thinks she is a less easy target.

 

[Neil]

Good physical security and a spy hole probably better. That and don't answer the door.

A drunk has probably long passed rational thought, so CCTV is probably no deterrent - not sure whether it would help in terms of police action - suppose it depends on who you got to speak to.

I think CCTV can be very useful, but probably not that helpful when on a budget, and as a preventative measure against those already long since passed having semblance of sense.

 

[1duck]

Get the cctv, get the evidence...get the police involved. If it's always the same man doing it, then it shouldn't be too hard to put an end to.

The cctv you can buy has really come on leaps and bounds have a look on ebay...that's where i got one to install in a friends shop, but that was about 349 pounds but he wanted 6 or 8 cameras and a monitor.