It’s no secret that crime happens more often during the evenings or in the dead of the night. They happen everywhere, too, which is why it’s hard to pinpoint the exact occurrence of how and where they will happen.
There are plenty of whys, whats and where that are being answered by criminal psychology, but one important factor has always been on the minds of security experts, homeowners and business proprietors alike - are security cameras deterrents in any way?
The answer is deceptively simple, as we went around and checked some data from trusted sources.
Why Are They Considered Deterrents
Security cameras can be considered as deterrents because they’re cameras - people generally act “better” when they’re being watched, which is a psychological fact for a wide swath of the population.
Studies have supported this - an overwhelming amount of the respondents/participants have indeed, acted better, performed better, and resorted to more social means to accomplish something when they were being watched.
Outside of being watched, the risk of antisocial behavior increases. While this definitely doesn’t explain criminality at all, this shows us a small factor that might help avoid it from happening altogether.
In the macro context, security cameras can act as a signal to anyone who sees them that someone IS watching and that a certain property is under the watch of somebody who owns it or does security on the premises.
Psychologically, there is a connection between the factor of being watched and the use of security cameras to deter crime in any area.
Here’s a funny thing to mention as well - the illusion of being watched works as well. This is why some stores have taken to installing some fake security cameras or putting up signages that say “security cameras are installed” to deter theft. We don’t recommend it if something does happen - but it just goes to show how effective deterrence is.
Why Are Deterrents Important?
Crime is expensive. The average burglary costs around 2,400 AUD according to the Australian Institute of Criminology. But it doesn’t end there. The cost isn’t only financial, but it’s going to take a lot of time and effort just to follow up on reported crime.
Not only does it take so much money to hire an attorney, but it also takes massive effort for police to conclude investigations that the law can act upon. And that doesn’t guarantee a return of the lost assets- sometimes, it just means that whoever did the crime is identified and punished accordingly.
You hear it all the time in medicine - prevention is always better than cure. Oddly enough, if we treat crime and criminality as a disease, this saying makes perfect sense.
This is why deterrence is extremely important not just for businesses that may lose money if their locations are burgled, but even for regular homes with plenty of investments such as valuables and electronics.
We here at Elinz believe in safety and preparedness, and we can’t stress enough how important it is that you should take your home or business’ security seriously, and employ some deterrents.
So How Do You Maximize Deterrence?
When it comes to security cameras and using them as deterrents, there are a couple of factors to keep in mind:
Visibility. Some home and business owners seem to forget this, but it always helps in terms of deterrence if a security camera is visible. Cash registers need to have a security camera trained on it at all times, so do entrances in your homes such as doors and windows.
Make your security cameras visible enough for whoever passes by.
Number of security cameras at home. You would think that the more security cameras, the better - but this isn’t true. According to some experts, overdoing it might harm the deterrent quality of the security cameras in your home or business, and it might do the exact opposite!
If you have way too many security cameras in a single area, it paints a target and might be read as “there’s something extremely valuable here that’s worth stealing, which is why we have so many cameras” - and you certainly don’t want that happening.
Keep the amount moderate. A single security camera in one part of your home or place of business is plenty enough when it comes to deterring crime. Not to mention, you won’t have to spend a pretty penny, too!
Positioning. This is a very important factor. You will need to set your security camera at a good height - not too high that it isn’t being seen, but not too low either as you run the risk of the camera being tampered with.
Set it at a good vantage point. A good idea with positioning your cameras is setting it near corners, and near entries & exits.
So one in your garage, one near your home’s main entrance, one near an exit, and one in your home’s interior might be a good and general place to start with security camera positioning. But no two homes are alike, so feel free to experiment and check - better yet, if you’re going to have it installed by someone else, defer to their expert opinion.
If you’re looking for security cameras, whether CCTV, IP, or NVR, we have a wide range of items available here for you at Elinz at different price ranges. No matter how big or small your home or business is, we have you covered here.
Shop from the safety of your home today with Elinz.
