In most instances, businesses use security surveillance as a deterrent to crime, allowing customers and visitors to see themselves on a surveillance monitor to let them know they are on camera. For the would-be thieves, this may serve to make them think twice about breaking the law, knowing it will be caught on film. Most businesses as well as security companies understand that security surveillance is used to keep honest people honest and to help identify those that are not that honest to begin with.
There are many different types of cameras available for security surveillance and the type a business chooses will depend on their needs. However, even more important than the cameras is the type of recording devices they use. Every camera that is connected to a security system should also be connected to a recorder, otherwise it is only window dressing used as a deterrent. While stopping crime is an important aspect of every business, catching the culprits that commit the crimes is equally important. Businesses that use security surveillance, and are not able to prosecute, are quickly identified by perpetrators and will continue to be targets.
Even many homeowners use system security surveillance to beef up protection efforts of their home, but usually will not have any monitors showing their guests that they are being recorded. Businesses, on the other hand, often let the public know that their visit into the business is being recorded. Some states have laws requiring this notification to be made at or near monitors showing some of the images that are being recorded.
There are always going to be some that do not believe the security surveillance is as good as alleged and will attempt to perpetrate a crime, hoping someone forgot to change the surveillance tapes or that they will be unrecognizable in the video footage. In fact, in some cases when a video image is aired on the evening news amount a break-in or a robbery, it is intentionally altered to make it seem that the subject is unrecognizable. This may give criminals a false sense of security while the real images are crystal clear.
In reality, many businesses may have a monitor viewed by the public that show up to four images, giving some of the criminal the false impression that those are the only areas of the business being recorded. In realty the business may have four or more times that many cameras recording, they just do not want everyone to know about them. Security surveillance is also used by businesses to deter internal theft and to prosecute employees they catch on video.
One of the most popular types of security surveillance cameras are ones that can be remotely controlled to pan an area and zoom in on a subject. Some are so sophisticated that they can zoom in close enough to read the information on a driver's license from up to 100 feet away. The challenge is with these types of cameras someone has to be monitoring them in order to track a subject throughout a facility.
