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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if you have CCTV cameras?

30 replies

OriginalGeordie · 01/11/2018 13:42

After a few issues in our locality, we are seriously considering CCTV cameras. I am a bit torn about them because I think they’ll make me even more paranoid than I already am and I’ll be checking them constantly. Anyway if you have them would love to hear your experiences.

OP posts:
lola006 · 01/11/2018 13:58

We have a Ring cam. You can adjust the motion sensor depth, which we had to do as it was being set off by cars driving past. It’s helpful. Even just keeping an eye on teen DS’s comings and goings.

We’ve also had a couple instances where people with no reason to be at our door have come up, heard the motion sensor go off and walk away so it’s a good deterrent as well.

user1457017537 · 01/11/2018 14:05

I have them. You get used to them after a while. They cover the outside of the property. I wouldn’t like surveillance inside.
Unfortunately, criminals are now savvy enough to cover their faces, use hoods, etc so they are not the deterrent they once were. Last weekend 3 youths went through our car and stole items. I had not locked the car after a night out thinking DH had locked it. Car on our property but police are not interested in viewing footage. I don’t blame them, I did leave the car unlocked, but car crime s a big problem where I live.

You have to have signs up saying thieves are being videoed.

chillpizza · 01/11/2018 14:14

We have cctv and signs. The first few days I was obsessed with the things but now I just use it to check who’s at the door when someone knocks or if I’m asked to due to an incident.

mommybear1 · 01/11/2018 14:20

We have them. You get used to them after a while at first it's an novelty but it wears off. They cover the outside and I think they are a great investment you can check who's calling, look at footage when your bins go missing (yes it happens a lot here) and it's actually brought our home insurance down. Sadly we also had a murder a few streets away and the police were able to use our cctv footage to assist, not what we originally envisaged them being used for but we were glad to help.

mrswhiplington · 01/11/2018 15:11

We've had it for a while now. Don't even notice it anymore. It came in useful when the binmen backed the bin lorry into a neighbour's concrete fence post and smashed it. I heard the crash but then they drove off. When we looked at the footage it was obvious it was them. The neighbour sent the footage to the council and they paid for him to fit a new fence post.Grin

Fatbutt · 01/11/2018 15:19

We have cameras - they have been useful to see landscape company NOT do the job they came to do (new build, putting something right)

Courier chucking my Gin over the back gate (Don't worry, it survived!)

The novelty definitely does wear off, and I hadn't checked them in ages in a 'just being nosy' kind of way, but it is reassuring to have them there!

Namechange000001 · 01/11/2018 16:35

We have them. As others say, the novelty wears off but it's reassuring to have them. We've found that a lot more people than we think turn up at our property, have a stomp around and leave without us having any idea!

sickmumma · 01/11/2018 16:37

Yes, like a previous poster I think I may have possibly left car unlocked one night and thieves stole my purse out of my car and went on a contactless spree! Luckily in our case police were interested and actually i got an email today to say one of the suspects had been arrested earlier this week and will be going to court.

DH got paranoid and has installed cctv at the front and side of house. Handy really as you can see deliveries etc and does give some peace of mind!

tiggerkid · 01/11/2018 16:40

In the last 2 years or so, we had several burglaries in our village, which is unusual for the area but also becoming more frequent. The last time it happened it was our neighbour literally few houses up the road. At that point, we stopped caring whether installing CCTV seemed paranoid or not. We just installed several cameras and my husband has gone as far as to put stickers on the windows to point burglars to the fact that the cameras are there.

What's more he convinced our neighbours across the road to do the same and installed their cameras too, so now we can also see each other's houses in those cameras :)

Murinae · 01/11/2018 16:43

We also have the ring cameras and floodlights. They work well and husband installed them all so weren’t that expensive. I also find it interesting how many people park on our property when we aren’t there!

Murinae · 01/11/2018 16:44

We also have the ring doorbell which works very well

QueenOfToast · 01/11/2018 16:53

Another vote for the Ring doorbell. Ours has audio as well as video, so you can see them and listen in on what people are saying (once they've activated the sensors by moving into range). If you want to, you can also surprise them by talking to them through the speaker; even if they haven't rung the doorbell!

Noviceoftheweek · 01/11/2018 16:54

We have a large property and appropriate levels of security. It’s reassuring and puts my mind at ease.

CantWaitToRetire · 01/11/2018 16:59

We have cameras on the front, side and back of the house. I forget they're there but my DH is obsessive about checking them. They come in useful. A few weeks back I had a guy come to the door with a dodgy story about working in the area so once he'd gone I did playback and kept a still picture of him 'just in case'. Then while we were on hols in June, my daughter got a text saying a parcel had been delivered. We saw on playback that the courier had left it by the side of the porch so I was able to PM a neighbour and ask her to pick it up and keep it until we were back. I have an app on my iPhone and iPad so I can look at the live feed whenever I want to.

IdahoCrow · 01/11/2018 17:05

I'm in a terraced house in an urban area. I have CCTV cameras which record to a hard drive, front and back. It's only about £120 all in, if you install them yourself. Minimum legal signs included!

Great for catching dog foulers tbh.

I also have a safe bolted to the wall. £48 from B&Q. You can break in, but you're not getting my hrt patches

Murinae · 01/11/2018 21:44

Ring is now owned by amazon so if you want any they will probably be reduced on Black Friday

MongerTruffle · 01/11/2018 21:46

We also have the ring doorbell which works very well
I would recommend the Nest Hello doorbell. The video quality is much, much better and it records all the time, not just when the motion sensor goes off or when someone rings the doorbell.

DuchessStabby · 01/11/2018 21:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Greatorb · 01/11/2018 22:01

For those using security cameras that use Wi-Fi to transmit the images, did you know that a Wi-Fi jammer can be bought for just £30 rendering them useless should someone want to break in?

bawbles · 01/11/2018 22:02

We have six cameras wired in plus the NVR. It’s a big funny shaped house so we had to get extra cameras so we didn’t have blind spots. Across the road has the same set up so we have great coverage.

Since installing the police have been and requested footage on three occasions - they must scout for properties with cameras as one them the incident was at the other end of the village

We have one indoor cam which is used as baby monitor but repositioned when we go away so we can check inside.

We also have dash cams, security lights, patlocks on French doors and a safe bolted into floor. We upgraded everything as part of renovating and saw it as normal upgrades now

I don’t think anything makes you ‘safe’ but it’s a deterrent against opportunistic crimes.

The novelty of checking wore off for me quickly but DH checks loads when he’s at work. If we leave DD home alone we will leave the tv on the front door screen so she can see who is at the door without answering. I mostly use it to identify who has blocked the driveway so I can knock and request they move Blush

Tistheseason17 · 01/11/2018 22:11

Yep, front and rear. They feed to my.phone on an App. We use Netamo Presence. Looks just like a light. I feel soòoo much safer!

Titsywoo · 01/11/2018 22:14

We've got the Nest doorbell. Proved it's worth yesterday when some teenage trick or treaters were about to damage our front garden but one of them noticed the bell and they left. Sadly our neighbours weren't as lucky. DH is planning to get an extra camera now to see the rest of the driveway. It's very useful (it recognises faces and we can talk through it on our phone so if we are out we can still speak to people at the front door - the wonders of modern technology!).

sollyfromsurrey · 01/11/2018 22:22

Can I ask what sort of cctv systems you are all using? Are they self install or did you use a company to install them?

Longdistance · 01/11/2018 22:27

We have cctv on the front and back.

A chap came to fit it, and I can view it in my iPhone. It’s a RXCAMVIEW.

Weirdly dh left his car open, and done scum nicked his sports kit out the back of the car. It was pretty clear. My neighbours ha don’t the same system. There’s only 5 houses in our steeet.

AnneElliott · 01/11/2018 22:48

We got cctv after a nasty attempted burglary last year. Accompany installed it and its hard wired with the important bits in the lift (to make it more difficult to damage if they get in).