Hello Again
Hello all and everyone. Yes, it’s been awhile since I last posted and I have been meaning to get this website up and running and write new posts on a regular and consistent basis. Sometimes, things just don’t go the way you want them to, but that’s life in a nutshell.
Keeping Busy
I’ve been working on a new security system for the coop my wife and I live in. The old system is just one of those cheap, thrown together systems you can pick up at Costco or online for $300 or so. It’s not capable of anything higher than 720p video and the night vision leaves a lot to be desired. Unless the person is standing within 6 or 7 metres of the camera, you aren’t going to get enough feature definition to provide to police, not that the police will do anything about it. The number of times we have had the police on the property for vehicle break-ins or some other type of theft, has had my opinion of the Ottawa Police Services changed for the bad. The new system I’m putting together doesn’t use an NVR and instead will utilize a Windows 10 computer with a dedicated switch for the cameras. A dedicated computer should be much more than we need for the intended 8 cameras, but better to have more than you need than to not have enough. I’m hoping to have it installed and configured by the end of this weekend and hopefully, we will be able to put some new 1080p cameras on it and get some proper video going forward.
Thieves Don’t Care
These days, the thieves don’t care that you have surveillance cameras on the property and are having their pictures taken. I think the majority of them know that the quality of these cameras most often used is lacking and being able to identify them will be tough if not impossible, especially when those pictures and videos are being taken at night. I pulled this picture off the video system the following day after it was discovered that a couple of vehicles had been accessed and things taken. Therein lies another problem: the owners of the vehicles accessed believe that this individual had special tools to remotely open their car doors and had nothing to do with their car doors being left unlocked or that they walk around their houses with their key fobs in their pockets. With all the information available regarding people “pocket dialing” their cell phones, how could someone not know that inadvertently hitting buttons on your key fob while in your pocket is even more likely. And look at this guy… I hardly doubt that he has the faculties and the money required to put together such a system. Also, these aren’t high end cars being hit and someone with those types of tools isn’t going to hit a Hyundai Elantra or an old Chevrolet Impala. These guys check all the car doors and then when they find one unlocked, they go through all the car and the trunk hoping to find change or other money as well as anything they may be able to pawn for cash.
What Good Are the Police
Vehicles that have been hit at our coop didn’t have much taken and damages have been minimal for the most part except for one vehicle that had the window smashed to steal power tools from the back seat. The Ottawa Police Services was called on those instances and I still have the business cards from those reports. Seems the Ottawa Police don’t have the time or the resources to deal with issues as trivial as car break-ins and thefts. They do show up a few hours after you call to report such issues, but then they provide you with a business card and then instruct you to go online and submit your report. We had an older woman threatened a couple of nights ago and the person went as far as to tell the woman he knew where she lived and that she had better watch her back. She did nothing to provoke this person and people saw which unit he had come out of before making his threats. Once again the police were called and pictures of the individual were provided along with information regarding the unit he had been visiting. The police dismissed this as well and said that she should go online to file a report. The police wouldn’t even go to the unit to try to ascertain a name of the individual, something that would have taken two or three minutes tops. Given the threats made, I would have thought that going to the unit the person had left would have been the least the police would have done. It makes me wonder what exactly is the line that one needs to cross before Ottawa Police Services consider they should do something. If I had to guess, I would think that most of these reports filed online are taking up hard drive space and are never even opened to look at. No wonder crime rates are on the rise.
Hopefully, everyone is enjoying their summers so far. I really need to get back to working on my websites and start getting in more guitar practice. I’m hoping to get back to some photography as well given that it’s summertime and I don’t have to worry about cameras freezing up. If you know who the individual is in the above picture, please provide more information in the comments section. It would be most appreciated if we can learn more about this person and perhaps have police intervene and stop him from continuing to come on our property and stealing the property of tenants.
Enjoy,
GP Joa