KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Home surveillance systems are becoming more and more popular. But how do you know if you’re placing the cameras in the right place?
A little more than a year ago Christy Kranz and her husband installed several security cameras outside their home.
“To keep our home safe. To make our family safe, just a piece of mind knowing we have one more set of eyes for the police department," Kranz said.
Officer Luis Virgil is a 14-year veteran of the Independence Police Department. 41 Action News walked around Christy Kranz’s home with Virgil to see if she has enough cameras and if they’re in the right places.
Some areas of the home seem like common sense like the front door and your driveway. Virgil said a general rule of thumb is one for every corner the home has. Tech experts say the wider the lens angle, the fewer cameras needed.
Virgil says one thing all homeowners should consider is placing a sign in plain view to put the crooks on notice.
“Some people believe that I need to be sneaky and put up cameras and the bad guys not know they’re there. We teach the opposite. We want people to shout out ‘Hey, we have cameras and we see you.’ Because the basics of crime prevention is that the bad guys don’t want to be seen or heard.”
The height of the cameras is also important. Virgil said it should be a few feet higher than your normal arm length.
“If you put them too low, to the point where the bad guy can just bop it out of the way, then that’s not going to be effective.”
If you have a lot of space in between you and your neighbor Virgil said you need one or more cameras in the rear of the home.
Other things to consider:
Make sure your camera is water and weatherproof.
Make sure your camera has night vision.
Make sure your camera has high-quality video resolution. Tech experts recommend 1080p or higher.
