Have you ever suspected your neighbors of trampling your flowers or knocking over your mailbox? Maybe you’ve known, deep in your gut, that the culprit was grumpy old Mr. Jones or the bratty kids who live down the block. But you can’t prove that they did it, and so you have to prop your mailbox back up, mourn the untimely death of your tulips, and hope that next time, you’ll catch them red-handed.
It’s been this way in suburbia for decades. But according to a recent New York Times article, times are changing. Surveillance equipment is becoming steadily cheaper, which means that ordinary families are now able to buy cameras to catch culprits. According to the article, families made only 20 percent of surveillance equipment purchases five years ago; now, they’re responsible for 50 percent of purchases.
Some of the homeowners interviewed in the article used surveillance equipment to catch their neighbors dumping dog feces on their lawns, vandalizing their cars, and stealing recyclables and laundry detergent from their basement. Tell us: have you ever caught a neighbor red-handed, or caught a crime on camera? Are you planning to get on board with this trend and install surveillance equipment on your property, or do you trust your neighbors to leave your home and yard alone?
Credit: New York Times Article
