Busy Prowlers get nothing but video recording

[Bradmph]

This was on Feb 14th 2016. Nothing was taken from wife's car since she has nothing in her car anyway, lol.




And just like I thought, they returned and I was ready to greet them. This was on Feb 19th 2016



These videos have been scaled way down for performance uploading and on web site. They are just posted to show that they didn't get away with it as clean as they thought. The one that went into our car knew it was coming and kept his distance from me. Then he started mouthing off just as I approached our door where I stopped to reassure him I will be seeing him again soon. He kept quiet afterwards and walked off with his clan. Probably trying to figure out what to tell the police.

 

[nayr]

looks like you need to get some IR on that parking spot if you want to have any identifiable video the next time this happens... but given your landscape that sidewalk is going to be really difficult to illuminate much better, you might consider replacing that cam with something that provides you with substantially better night quality so pedestrian traffic is not such a blur.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Good luck catching them. Hard to tell for sure who they are even if you met them in person though. Their moms and friends might recognize them from their clothes and general appearance but they're too far away from that camera for any kind of decent ID shot.

We get quite a bit of that kind of stuff around here. 1-3 times a year anyway maybe, if you call that quite a bit. Addicts and kids (soon to be addicts if they aren't already) looking for easy money for drugs.

If you're looking for advice, add another camera with at least a 12mm lens and a nice big IR illuminator. People tend to frown on spotlights shining into the street but IR doesn't stand out. If you leave your existing camera there to tell you what happened, your wife wouldn't even necessarily have to park in the exact same spot every time. If you don't get a PTZ (which I'd highly recommend for that distance and variable parking spots), even a fixed camera with more zoom that covered the near sidewalk and half of the street would've given a MUCH better and closer picture of those punks as they walked past its FOV. Combine the good quality picture of their faces from the new zoom camera with the whole scene coverage of your existing camera and the police or their moms could have a nice chat with them about giving back the stuff they undoubtedly stole from your friends and neighbours that night. I'd also bet that now is a good time to convince your wife that the two of you could find some money in the budget for another camera, but preferably two. Something more modern and better at night than the one you've got for the whole scene, plus a cam with a longer lens and preferably some external IR for good face shots.

 

[Bradmph]

The video I am uploading to youtube is rescaled from 1920x1080HD 20fps to 800x640 and not enhanced. This is why it looks like it does. I have the good videos that just need a little grain removal and sharpening and brightening and it brings them to view. I just didn't want to upload large files to youtube. Anyway, I found them and I know who they are as it shows in the 2nd video.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Awesome!

 

[Bradmph]

looks like you need to get some IR on that parking spot if you want to have any identifiable video the next time this happens... but given your landscape that sidewalk is going to be really difficult to illuminate much better, you might consider replacing that cam with something that provides you with substantially better night quality so pedestrian traffic is not such a blur.

I plan on putting a mini-camera at lower level and most likely on a new light pole as well, plus closer to the street area there. I want to remove the 4 walkway lights on the stairs and push a pole light in at the top step area where it can hide the cam inside by the light or drilled into the pole hidden with the pole design casting. I am in the process of doing this, I just been too busy with the in-laws.

 

[Parley]

Interesting videos. Thank you for posting them.

 

[Bradmph]

Dug a hole and installed our sidewalk area lighting post. This should put much needed light right on the parking at front of house. I also figure I will put a shield into the light lamp box on the house side to block the light that will come from the back side of post lamp. Got a decent deal on the post and lantern at lowes and has a glass lantern as well. This should improve picture quality, deter wanabee prowlers, etc. Not to concerned about the flow of traffic on our street overnight being irritated by the light since they think they are on a freeway sometimes. Hopefully it should be connected tomorrow and switches are almost completed. Going to search for a small camera that can wide angle a short distance and have a clear image and place into the lantern box.

 

[nbstl68]

You could always also just lock the car door!...Looks like they opened it right up with no problem.
Would they then smash the window to get in...maybe but prob not...most are looking for the quick \ easy score from what I here the "stats say".


Kawboy12R, what examples of a decent camera were you thinking that could give good facial recognition at night at that range?
That seems to be my biggest challenge finding good quality night capture of motion \ facial recognition. Even if a camera gives a crystal clear still image, the motion samples of people moving are usually too poor for facial ID from what I'm seeing without breaking the bank on maybe something like the often recommended "dark fighter" series cams, (Hikvision?)

Cops are not typically can't do much with video of just "somebody" breaking in other than maybe talking them into setting up a patrol of the area.

 

[Kawboy12R]

Pick something with the right lens for the distance and add light as required, either more dusk to dawn, motion, or an external IR illuminator. 6mm lens for a car parked very close to a house in a driveway. Probably a minimum of 12mm or 16mm for a car parked in the same spot on the street every night. Light the scene up with one or two IR floods, change the max exposure to 1/60 or even faster, and you're laughing. The key is lens length, lighting, and tweaking your settings. If you can control where you park the car every time your job is relatively easy. If not, get two cameras with long lenses to cover a wider area or a Huisun/Imporx MiniPTZ and move it when you park. If you have a known choke point, keep a wide angle overview cam and a zoom cam pointed where you know people have to travel through, make sure there's enough light to give sharp pictures at the exposure rates you need to freeze walking or preferably running people. Darkfighters are awesome but even the cheaper cams can do a great job with more light. $200 buys a lot of infrared light if you can't or don't want to add enough white light. There's a lot of talk on here by a few folks about the Longse S500 cams on Ali that are great at night and some folks have found variants with varifocal lenses that go out to 12 millimeters. Get one of those and an extra IR illuminator or three while you're at it and you are under the price of a Darkfighter with even better performance because you have a lot more light.

Folks on here focus on camera models because it's a camera site and they get all the glory, but it's really a combination of camera, proper lens, lighting, distance, angle, and tweaking your settings. Having an awesome low light camera just makes the rest of the installation a bit easier. Installing brighter bulbs, adding a strategically placed LED floodlight or two and using a faster exposure will do wonders for even lower end Hiks, Dahuas, or whatever.

Just remember - all you need is ONE clear face or plate shot plus half decent overview footage. If you know at least one spot where they must pass that makes your job very easy. Those are the money shots. Control the distance and angle, pick the right lens, add light, and you're laughing.

 

[afremont]

Recently had something similar happen to me, see my post. Even though I was much closer, I still learned a lot about the deficiencies of my system. External IR illumination and more cameras are in the works at my house. If you watch my video closely, you'll see why you might want to be somewhat cautious about confronting them. Even though they're looking for easy opportunities, they might be prepared to see that they escape by any means possible. My car was unlocked as well with nothing of real value available. I'd rather them get a good look and find nothing than to rip out my lock or break a window.

 

[Bradmph]

Well, I have installed my Post light and inserted a GE 100w 1750 Lumens LED Daylight inside with a temporary aluminum foil shield at the back side of the light box so not to blind us coming out the house or my cameras. The light has allowed from 1/16 to 1/30 exposure, a drop in gain, and a little drop in noise settings. It has lightened the front yard much better for the distance our cameras are stationed and should capture detail better.
I have not yet installed a mini cam inside the light post yet, but will examine where it would best be placed after some time with this setup I have now. I am happy with this setup so far considering that is virtually black outside and I am not using IR.
Here are a couple images of what I have presently. I did not want to post a billboard size image in the forum, so I resized them about 50%, but kept res up to 150. It should give an idea how well things are looking now. Again, this is with no IR.

(click images for larger size)

 

[Bradmph]

You could always also just lock the car door!...Looks like they opened it right up with no problem.
Would they then smash the window to get in...maybe but prob not...most are looking for the quick \ easy score from what I here the "stats say".


Kawboy12R, what examples of a decent camera were you thinking that could give good facial recognition at night at that range?
That seems to be my biggest challenge finding good quality night capture of motion \ facial recognition. Even if a camera gives a crystal clear still image, the motion samples of people moving are usually too poor for facial ID from what I'm seeing without breaking the bank on maybe something like the often recommended "dark fighter" series cams, (Hikvision?)

Cops are not typically can't do much with video of just "somebody" breaking in other than maybe talking them into setting up a patrol of the area.

These guys would not of broken the window to get in, you can see that in the actions of them as they work the car. Usually to break a window they will look inside much more and have to see something they want desperately. These guys are snatch and grab and probably meth heads looking for quick cash.
As for the police, it seems in our city that car prowler and break in has become legal. Our city has just become #4 in the country for stolen vehicles and I really don't see the police spending time reporting and following up on vehicle break ins. Times are changing and I can remember when police took finger prints off cars if something like this happened. Best you can do is be prepared and try to make the opportunity almost null for the thief. If you don't want to shoot to kill some idiot breaking into your cars, grab the ole Sheraton pump action pellet or C02 BB gun and unload on them. They are not a firearm, yet they can scare someone enough to go away. I even have a wrist rocket ball bearing sling shot ready, just for the pain management. It is sort of like training a dumb animal to stay out of your trash bins, pain works great.

 

[nayr]

I think police departments need trap vehicles, buy up a half dozen used cars.. set them up to send a text message to a officer in waiting when a door opens on em and seed them through target neighborhoods.. rig em up with child safety latches on all 4 doors so once they get in and close it, they gotta wait for a cop to come let em out.

Ive thought about leaving a backdoor ajar and unlocked, locking all the rest and trying to tempt them into the back seat with the kid locks enabled, then I can calmly walk outside arm the car so they set off an annoying tone if they get out and explain that I'll keep my sidearm in the holster if they keep there ass in that seat until the police arrive.. but recently they have been in groups like this so that could turn ugly fast.. think it'd only work against the lone prowler.

someone needs to create a kickstarter to invent little box we can put our spare keyfob into, with a little pneumatic piston to push the lock button every day at like 9pm, then again at midnight just to double check.. if fobs were not so fucking expencive id of ripped mine apart by now and wired them to my automation system.

 

[nbstl68]

I'm near st.louis which is a pretty bad city these past several years as far as crime/ car jacking / muders go these days.

That said, just last November a man shot and killed a kid he came across breaking into his car and no charges were filed against the man.
http://fox2now.com/2015/11/30/police-man-shoots-and-kills-teen-stealing-from-vehicles/

The article stated , "The law allows leeway for deadly force against people breaking into homes or vehicles."

I would not mess with bb guns or wrist rockets unless from a very safe and unidentifiable distance.
You never know if the kid you hit with a bb will fire back with a real gun...No normal law abiding person wants to take a kids life but you can't take a chance these days and not be properly protected and prepared for the worst.

 

[code2]

need to reduce that noise reduction option to the ghosting is horrible

 

[Hawko777]

I find the IR on the hikvision EXIR cameras are awesome

 

[Bradmph]

UPDATE REPORT: The entire group of prowler vandals caught and arrested.

http://www.khq.com/clip/12287580/teenage-car-vandals-caught

http://www.khq.com/story/31479793/spokane-police-arrest-pack-of-kids-for-smashing-windshields


GREAT NEWS....
SPOKANE, Wash. - Spokane Police busted several kids accused of kicking in car windshields. It was a rash of car vandalism in North Spokane neighborhoods over a 3-week period. Police say 30 people reported the crimes and they’re estimating $7,000 in damages to windshields so far. Megan Presch is one of those victims. She uses her car every day for work, but she missed three days because of vandals.



Apparently the car prowling became vandalism as well. These kids are in a lot of trouble.

 

[nayr]

good thing about kids is they all snitch on eachother, at least the white boys will im sure they just wrapped up the fattest and slowest of em and he rolled on the rest, glad there off your streets and you can rest a bit easier.

 

[Bradmph]

need to reduce that noise reduction option to the ghosting is horrible

I know I hate it too. These Hikvison cameras I have are placed at the top eve of our house and the distance is quite far. Not long ago I had a cheapo camera stolen right off our porch and this got me to install cameras. I need to find a better night vision camera which I am researching at this time. I also installed a new 1750 lumens LED light in a new light post placed close to the sidewalk for better vision.
The video you seen that I posted has been resized down quite a bit also. The quality is not as good as what I have on hand of the crime.

Light Post Installed
https://www.ipcamtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=8500&d=1456139320