Someone is much less likely to try to break the law, lie, or steal from you if they know they are under video surveillance. If a potential thief is casing the neighborhood for a good place to hit, they are going to avoid houses with security camera surveillance. Neighbors are less likely to peek at your mail or let their dog go on your lawn. Conversely, people are more likely to be on their very best behavior when they know their actions are being recorded.

There is no better evidence in court than a good quality surveillance video to help prosecute or defend a case. You’ll want to make sure your Digital Video Recorder (DVR) is set up for date and time stamping. It will be much easier to get a restraining order against someone if you can show on video that you’ve been threatened or your property has been trespassed. Nothing is more frustrating than knowing who committed a crime against you but not having the evidence to prove it. A security camera system can help prevent that situation.

Playing back recorded video on your security camera system can help resolve all kinds of questions and issues. For example, if your lawn, car, or mailbox is being vandalized, a security camera system can help figure out exactly what is going on. Nighttime vision and varifocal lenses are readily available now so that you can capture a good video day or night and at varying distances. Perhaps you suspect that your property is being trespassed but you’re not sure. Security cameras can help to find out. Motion detection technology, which is standard on most DVRs, helps with this scenario by narrowing down the video that you need to view. Security camera systems can help with smaller questions too, such as whether you remembered to close the garage door, if the kids are home from school yet, or who left those toys all over the driveway.

Good quality security camera systems are much more affordable these days than they used to be. In the past a home owner would have to choose between a quality system and an affordable system, but no more. DVRs and cameras are much better quality than they were five years ago and at a fraction of the cost. Video and audio files tend to be very large, but data storage and high-speed bandwidth are readily available and affordable now. Portable devices such as IPhones and BlackBerrys provide access to the security camera system like never before.

Nothing beats the peace of mind that you can get from being able to view your home or vacation property when you’re not there. You can confirm that your teenagers have arrived home from school safely. You can check and see that the baby and the sitter are doing fine. A surveillance system is a great backup to a home alarm system. If the alarm goes off, a quick remote look at the camera system can tell the home owner if the alarm is real or false. It can also prevent you from dispatching the police and incurring a fine if the police are called to your home for a false alarm.