Are Security Cameras Worth It?

Everything is in the public eye now, whether we want it to be or not. Entire websites are dedicated to catching people in their most embarrassing moments, or the seemingly impossible happens as Jane starts recording a perfect sunset. So, it seems we can easily take for granted what a true security camera does. It just records, doesn’t it? Well, maybe Joe with the iPhone just records, but a security camera, a good one anyway, does much more than that. Security cameras are a new set of active eyes looking specifically for anomalies. The amount of technology behind that one function alone is mind boggling and requires at least three patents to begin going down that road (ask us how we know!). It takes a lot of work to program a system to look for things in a way a thinking human can, while enhancing its scope of vision on spectrums that humans can’t see.

Imagine a ring, a perimeter, drawn around a home, a business, a power plant, or whatever the value is. Now imagine another ring inside that one, and another ring outside that one. Security cameras are like that outer ring. They see farther than humans, can notify authorities quickly, and if there’s a speaker onboard, are louder too. This one ring of protection may be sufficient in keeping those who wish harm from continuing further. In most scenarios it is enough, as many of our clients have said, “69% drop in thefts in one month” or “no incidents in four months where previously there was one per week” and the like. Without cameras it is a waiting game until that second ring is broken through, whether that’s a fence, gate, locked door, or another physical barrier. Then only a matter of seconds between the perpetrator and the valued target.

Often, when a security camera is doing its job, really doing its job, it’s in the direct line of dangerous and illegal activity. Albert Einstein is said to have noted, “I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” We’re not fighting anything with sticks and stones yet, which means it can be brutally dangerous out there. The militaries around the world have already utilized fighter drones to reduce the numbers of lives lost as death can be guaranteed when going up against modern weapons. Bomb diffusing robots are also out with the FBI and SWAT teams acting as extensions of trained bomb experts for highly volatile situations. Police departments already use bodycams and other security cameras in collaboration with their own skills and training to capture what they miss. These actions spring from the question: what is the cost of a human life? Compared to how many lives are saved, how accurately justice is served, and the amount of loss prevented, at no point is the price of an exploded, shot at, destroyed piece of technology worth more?

Are security cameras worth it? That depends on how far into those rings someone should be allowed to go without fear of consequence. It depends on what value the technology brings to see beyond 20/20 vision. The decision to have security cameras ultimately depends on the value of the product, people, or resource being protected. For LVT, it’s always worth it.