There are safe neighborhoods in St. Louis and dangerous neighborhoods. Every house is different too. In fact, two identical houses on the same street could have very different burglary degrees of vulnerability if one house is on the corner and one is in the middle of the block.
Know Your Risk Before Purchasing Video Surveillance Equipment
In determining if video surveillance is necessary for your home or business, you have to take all these potential risk factors into consideration. In this article, we discuss a few things that you may want to consider before purchasing a video surveillance system and a few of the different kinds of video surveillance available.
Video Surveillance Is a Proven Burglary Deterrent
Cameras set up around your home will be enough to discourage some burglars and make your home a less desirable target. Don’t hide the fact that your property has cameras either. Use warning signs on gates and doors to discourage would-be burglars.
While we’re on the subject of putting up signs, you should also have a security system sign in your front yard, stickers on your back door, and at least one “Beware of Dog” sign on the back fence, even if you don’t have a dog.
Video Surveillance Equipment Isn’t Free
A traditional security system is more important than video equipment. If you don’t have either, start with a security system. Video can be added on down the road and integrated with the security system as your budget allows.
If you already have a security alarm, perhaps it’s time to consider adding video security to the mix. It all depends on your security goals and budget.
Is There Crime in Your St. Louis Neighborhood?
Have one or two neighbors been hit by burglars in the last year or so? Does your neighborhood have a reputation for burglaries? Do you live in one of these high crime neighborhoods in St. Louis?
You have a 1 in 16 chance of being the victim of property crime in the City of St. Louis, and overall crime in St. Louis is 168% higher than national averages. While crime rates are in fact very high in the City of St. Louis, crime rates fall much closer to national averages when incorporating the surrounding metropolitan area.
Regardless of statistics and probability, it’s good to keep in mind that any house can get hit by a burglar; however, the more burglary deterrents you have, the more likely a burglar will simply pick a less challenging target.
Installing the Right Kind of Video System
Video security systems can be set up to simply record and store video, or they can be connected to a system that allows the cameras to be accessed remotely. Cameras that can be accessed remotely must either be monitored by users/owners or by a 3rd party monitoring company.
How Will the Video System Be Monitored?
Video monitoring by a central station can be costly, so this approach is more commonly used by businesses with the budget for it. Many small business owners AND homeowners find that the less costly self-monitoring option is more viable and nearly as effective. For small businesses with a smaller budget and less property to protect, a business owner and one or two key personnel can usually handle the task of monitoring.
What Type of Equipment Should I Install?
Our teams use Honeywell video security and Alarm.com video monitoring in residential homes and install Speco cameras for businesses and commercial properties. Fortunately, advances in video technology have brought the price of video equipment down considerably while improving overall video quality.
We install video surveillance systems for businesses and residential homeowners in the St. Louis metropolitan area. Contact Butler Durrell Security to learn more about video surveillance solutions or for a free estimate.
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