Simple doorway recording setup with motion and audio capture?

CyJackX

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Long story short, in the co-op I live in, across the hall is a mentally ill neighbor who is prone to yelling in the hall, slamming the doors with a looping monologue every 5 minutes at certain times of night. There have been physical altercations with other members of the building, but before taking more legal action folks want to more rigorously catalogue incidents. Luckily (or unluckily) he lives right across the hall from me in such a way that I can observe him through the peephole.

My first question is: Do I have to remove my existing peephole to install a peephole camera? I was hoping for something that could not draw attention to itself, but honestly he might not even care. And also to have something that technically doesn't extend past my own apartment for the legalistic reasons. I imagine I'd be allowed to record anything I can see from my own space; I can clear this with the building but they're generally on my side as is.

I wouldn't mind plugging it in from my side, although batteries would also be nice to support. I don't need a lot in the way of software, but maybe I don't know what I'd be missing with an on-board SD card versus direct-to-PC setup. Any tips or recommendations would be helpful.
 
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The Automation Guy

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Generally yes, peephole cameras will require the original optic to be removed. It's super simple however, they are just a two parts (one put in the hole from the outside of the door and one put in the hole from the inside of the door) that screw together. The inside part usually has cutouts for a large flathead screwdriver to help tighten/loosen it.
 

SpacemanSpiff

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Is the co/op involved in the situation?

Get yourself educated on local laws pertaining to recording video/audio. At the least any footage could get tossed if it was obtained unlawfully. Worst case you could end up being charged for recording it.
 

CyJackX

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Is the co/op involved in the situation?

Get yourself educated on local laws pertaining to recording video/audio. At the least any footage could get tossed if it was obtained unlawfully. Worst case you could end up being charged for recording it.
Heavily involved. We already have cameras in common areas, also, so recording the hallway, another common area, shouldn't be out of the question.
 
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mat200

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Heavily involved. We already have cameras in common areas, also, so recording the hallway, another common area, shouldn't be out of the question.
hi @CyJackX

Do double check legal issues .. video only recording of the common areas should be ok as long as there are signs.

audio recording laws in the USA vary state by state, and often you can not wiretap if you are not a party to the conversation in general.
 

Flintstone61

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Have you seen the peep hole cams on Amazon?
If they use a standard dimension, it wouldn't be a lot of fussing to unscrew it from the back on the inside, & slide it out thru the front, and slip in the rcamera piece. and clip on the LCD screen.
 
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