Hidden camera found. What to do?

[trirose]

My daughter’s friend has just found a hidden camera attached to a power bank in her bedroom. She shares a house with others from uni. What should she do immediately? Trying to prevent mistakes so that they can find the fuc*er who planted it.

999 are not an advice service, they are an emergency response service.

And more people should be shamed for misusing the emergency services.

I think I'd disconnect the WiFi in the house too, turn off the WiFi router in caseits transmitting. Before she does though do any of then know how to admin login to it and download the logs, might have the sicko IP address logged.

Yeah, go and get started on that then with people who ring 999 asking for someone to change a light bulb or how to cook mince. If you're most annoyed about someone wanting to report a sexual crime against women as 'misusing the service' then you're part of the police's institutional misogyny problem. If call handlers know their job they can direct the call accordingly. Again, stop shaming people for wanting a crime against women dealt with. On a site aimed at women it's a poor look.

This is a shocking way to think 😮 I would never dream of dialling 999 unless in a life or death situation. Yes this is a serious crime but nobody is dying.

The house shares my kids have had at university all had locks on the bedroom
doors, is that not usual?

I'm sure that the people on 101 will advise if an emergency response is required by officers.

Absolutely this!

This girl has been being filmed in her own private room, it's dangerous and serious and potentially a threat to life down the line. Maybe not happening right now but police lack of resources is not a reason to shame people for wanting a fast response to a crime.

id presume its one of the others, and the range of it i presume would be limited unless its connected to the wifi but then they would need the wifi password etc, id suggest one of the other people

This happened to the daughter of a friend. It was a flat mate who had planted it.
So it could be a flatmate or the landlord.
My advice would be to not say anything yet, but place something in front of it, contact the police on 101 for advice and also contact the students union or safeguarding people at the university. This is a safeguarding matter.
She needs to check for all devices using the router. There may be several in the house.
Unfortunately if she has disconnected it the culprit has been alerted and may already have disconnected other devices remotely.
You tube has loads of videos showing how to find hidden cameras.
It is a crime and 101 is a start.

Does she know her housemates well, could it be one of them? Or it could be the landlord or someone she's had back.

Def don't call 999 but she does need to call the police.

Do the other housemates have access to her room?

The rule of thumb is, when in doubt, don't call 999. There's no immediate risk to life or limb, so it's not an emergency, though it is important.

Shocking? I disagree. This is a sex crime and ongoing. Call handlers can and are trained to react appropriately to this. Posters shouldn’t be shamed by others for suggesting this.

This is not shocking at all. 999 is completely inappropriate here. 101 will aim to answer the phone in under 10 minutes say, 999 under 10 seconds. There will be literally no change in risk in that time. Of course this is a serous crime that needs to be dealt with properly, but 999 is for life and death emergencies - this is not one of them.

This is 101 not 999. To think 999 is appropriate for this is mad.

My car recently had it's tyres slashed outside my house. When the police came round about it they told me to report any further incidents. I asked how to report it and they told me that any ongoing crime needs to be reported via 999. Ie it i actually saw someone damaging a car.

Did you miss the post by the ex-call handler and current serving police officer?

999 is for immediate danger only.

Using 999 for anything else is blocking the lines for those who are in dire and immediate need of emergency support.

The key word here is emergency….OP’s situation is very important. It is not an emergency. There is no immediate danger to her daughter.

A former call handler and a police officer have said this isn’t a case for 999 for goodness sake.

101 would be appropriate and I hope it gets sorted/they work out who it is OP

Agreed. And pointing this out is not ‘shaming’ anybody, nor being misogynistic just because the victim is a woman. It’s about having a proportionate response and appropriate use of resources/services.

Met police says to call 999 if a crime is in progress
which this is.

Disconnect it and call 101, what are they going to do, dash round and arrest a camera. It will need investigation, nobody is in immediate danger.

This.

Wrong @Herewegoagainandagainandagain

From the government webpages: Call 999 if you are reporting a crime that is in progress or if someone is in immediate danger.