Home Security

eggyryan

Need to get video camera/survelance on my home, anyone know of good system.

KoolKid

A very vauge question.
How many cameras?
What do you want to watch?
Do you have a budget in mind?

eggyryan

Budget would be around 500 euro, my house has just been burgled. Was able to get glimpse of white van from neighbours buisness camera. With this I was able to identify the same van in our area 2 days later and confront knackers. Need definately 1 but maybe 2 cameras, would need good def if able to read reg etc.

KoolKid

€ 120+ for decent camera.
Look for 580 + tvl
€ 400 for a decent entry level recorder
Look for 100 frames per second and 500gb hard drive minimum.

olafshiel

You are wasting your time with the guards. There are way too many false alarms going off wasting their time. Even if you have a monitored alarm system they wont turn up unless a key holder has been contacted. The first thing to do is get a few ip cameras and a DVR. Coupled with a half decent alarm system that rings you if an alarm does go off, all you need then is a decent phone that lets you view your cameras. At least when you ring the guards you can tell them that their IS some one in your home and you can even describe them! A good locksmith goes along way to.

KoolKid

It is not correct to say Gardai will not turn up & investigate without a keyholder.I think you need to look up Garda Policy on monitored alarms.
Gardai will respond to alarms where there has been a verified alarm activation. This is where there has been more than one zone activated or where there has been audio or visual verification. Panic alarms are exempt & do get priority response.
Your idea re cameras verifying yourself & then calling the Guards may seem good. But again this is also done by monitoring stations who will ring the guards directly quoting a URN speeding up the response & accuracy of the call.

olafshiel

I didn't say the Guards wont turn up without a key holder. I said they will NOT attend any monitored alarm unless a key holder has been contacted and will give an estimated time of arrival. (if you read Garda policy)

Until full implementation of the policy in relation to verified response (i.e. 31st of January 2007), a Garda response will only be afforded to intruder alarm activations, when a key holder has been notified and has given an estimated time of arrival at the premises.

To effectively respond to a verified intruder alarm, the Garda Síochána require that a key holder is informed and that they attend in the shortest time possible at the premises.

Failure of a key holder to attend at a premises following a verified alarm will result in the activation being recorded as a false alarm.

KoolKid

In reality they do respond ,at their discretion, even to unverified alarms.
In the case of a verified alarm it will be given priority regardless of key holder arriving. ie If the Guards can get there in 10 minutes & a key holder is 30 minutes away they will attend prior to their arrival.
I think sweeping generalizations like, don't waste you time with the Guards etc. is not helpful to anyone. They do attend calls based on priority which is, at their discretion, panic alarms above all other calls, verified alarms , unverified alarms and other alarm calls .

olafshiel

I'm just stating the law as it stands. Discretion is an entirely different matter. The facts that stand are that approximately "94 per cent of the well over 250,000 alarm activations notified to the gardaí annually were false" in my experience the Guards can take up to 2-3 hours to attend a burglar alarm. If a member of the public calls the Gardai and says, "there is a burglar in my house and I am watching him/her on my camera" they are much more likely to attend as opposed to a call from a monitoring station. An alarm with no key holder available stands no chance firstly because of the above statistics and also, the gardai cannot enter a house without the key holder being present.

KoolKid

Is Garda Policy now the law?
If a member of the public calls in an alarm in that situation obviously the Guards will respond. Like wise as the would to a similar call from a central station.
There are many downsides to self monitoring. The main one being Panic & duress situations. Another being the central stations use of URNs which immediatly give the emergency services all the relevant details in one go.
I am more than happy to debate the pros & cons of monitoring vs self monitoring etc ..
But at least now we are giving better information than just saying

You are wasting your time with the guards. There are way too many false alarms going off wasting their time.

KoolKid

Sandpollen banned for spamming.