As home surveillance is becoming more prominent in homes and businesses, it turns out it is a great resource for law enforcement. Modern home surveillance can record for months at high definition so it can be enlarged with great detail. Giving the exact time and date on every frame, it can also record in the blackness of night as if it were day by using night vision and infrared, in fact most home surveillance comes with infrared technology.

Today’s home surveillance also comes with a very powerful tool – instant internet download in real time. In other words, you can watch your home and yard right here in Calhoun County even if you are on vacation around the world and save the video or still images to your phone or website.

With home surveillance, you can let the kids play in the back yard while you sit in the front watching them in real time on your smartphone.

In a recent case in Central Texas, police were able to find a suspect who was later charged with the abduction and murder of a small child by viewing all of the home videos from surrounding blocks of the neighborhood.

Even local police use home surveillance in cases of local crime. Chief Bermea of the Seadrift Police Department says they use homeowners’ private home security cameras, and in one situation solved two burglary / theft cases in one night by utilizing local neighborhood home video footage.

Chief Bermea says his department have made multiple arrests as a result of video cameras as more homes install them. Some are in plain view, while others have been integrated into the home’s facades for cosmetic reasons. Chief Bermea has a good idea of how many cameras are in his community and where they are located, but will not release that number, only saying that some streets have multiple cameras. And that since these are private home systems, the department encourages homeowners to let them know if they have a video system in case of a crime in their area –  and that the Seadrift Police Department keeps that information private.  The use of home surveillance helps to facilitate a quick arrest, recovery of property and conviction, Chief Bermea stated.

We live in a truly modern world as law enforcement and homeowners become more technically savvy, trying to make our community a better place.