Need help catching a criminal

[finfan]

I have a relative who does part time auto repair out of his home for friends and family. He lives in a residential neighborhood where you can legally park your car on the street. Sometimes he needs to park a car across the street in front of a neighbor's house. Well the last car he parked there had its tires slashed on the passenger side. (which faces the neighbor's house.) This has been escalating. This neighbor thinks they own the street in front of their house.

Anyway my relative has been told by the local police they won't do anything unless it is on video. Does anyone have any recommendations on a camera that could be powered by a car battery and wirelessly transmit back to a computer that is about 75-100 ft away? Thanks

[Let's Roll]

I have a relative who does part time auto repair out of his home for friends and family. He lives in a residential neighborhood where you can legally park your car on the street. Sometimes he needs to park a car across the street in front of a neighbor's house. Well the last car he parked there had its tires slashed on the passenger side. (which faces the neighbor's house.) This has been escalating. This neighbor thinks they own the street in front of their house.

Anyway my relative has been told by the local police they won't do anything unless it is on video. Does anyone have any recommendations on a camera that could be powered by a car battery and wirelessly transmit back to a computer that is about 75-100 ft away? Thanks
I think the neighbors are pissed off, and I can see why.

[JustRalph]

Lookup wireless deer cams

If it doesnt have to be streaming to a computer, live, then you can getaway with a regular deer cam powered by batteries. I have one of those. 79 bucks.

They have infrared and work pretty well. Motion detection too. Here is a shot mine took in infrared mode


http://www.justralph.com/storage/images/coyote_fox.jpg

[chickenhead]

those work pretty well. All the dope growers around here use them to keep an eye on things. I've heard.

[finfan]

If it doesnt have to be streaming to a computer, live, then you can getaway with a regular deer cam powered by batteries. I have one of those. 79 bucks.

They have infrared and work pretty well. Motion detection too. Here is a shot mine took in infrared mode
Thanks. I guess they have their own memory and you can set the fps? How big are they? We are thinking of putting one in the passenger side mirror somehow.

[GameTheory]

Thanks. I guess they have their own memory and you can set the fps? How big are they? We are thinking of putting one in the passenger side mirror somehow.The flash will kind of give it away, and without it you probably won't see anything (clearly). There are better ways to deal with this. Sounds like both parties are in the wrong.

[JustRalph]

Thanks. I guess they have their own memory and you can set the fps? How big are they? We are thinking of putting one in the passenger side mirror somehow.

They have their own memory, or you can put in a camera card for longer vids and more shots. Got mine off amazon. 8.5 x 7.5 inches.

http://www.amazon.com/Stealth-Infrared-Digital-Scouting-recorder/dp/B001U7RBDG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333093022&sr=8-2

The flash will kind of give it away, and without it you probably won't see anything (clearly). There are better ways to deal with this. Sounds like both parties are in the wrong.

There is no flash. Infra red. Might be kind of hard to hide in a mirror. But you can damn sure set it up somewhere. Maybe in another car nearby.

mine takes still shots and video. Depending on how you set it up.
The trick for video "evidence" use is to make sure you cover probable entry and exit points as much as possible. Btw, the infra red can be very strong on these. So being back 20 feet or so is the best shot, up too close and it washes out and overexposes.

[GameTheory]

There is no flash. Infra red. Might be kind of hard to hide in a mirror. But you can damn sure set it up somewhere. Maybe in another car nearby.I'll have to tell my dad to upgrade his -- his is always flashing those poor animals in the face.

[Robert Goren]

As any business owner will tell you, cameras as weapon to catch vandals is not very effective. You can have greatest picture or video in the world, but if nobody has a clue who the vandal is, it is worthless. When I worked for the parking companies, we always had a lot of video, but very few suspects. One other thing, checking videos is extreme time consuming. Just letting you what you are going to getting or not getting before you spend your money. Good luck in catching the low life.

[Pell Mell]

As any business owner will tell you, cameras as weapon to catch vandals is not very effective. You can have greatest picture or video in the world, but if nobody has a clue who the vandal is, it is worthless. When I worked for the parking companies, we always had a lot of video, but very few suspects. One other thing, checking videos is extreme time consuming. Just letting you what you are going to getting or not getting before you spend your money. Good luck in catching the low life.

A deer cam is not going to take a lot of video or pictures...only when something enters its view..

Actually, I've seen these kinds of things with a witness and the cops do nothing...when something like this happens in my neck of the woods somebody gets shot or their house burns down...they are not strong believers in the cops.. :D

[TJDave]

I think the neighbors are pissed off, and I can see why.

Yeah, but then vandalizing?

Unless you want to be constantly at each others throats neighbors need to work this stuff out. Go over and talk to them.

[Grits]

those work pretty well. All the dope growers around here use them to keep an eye on things. I've heard.

These last two words being priceless, Chickie, I bet you've had your ear to the ground. ROTF:lol:

[JustRalph]

As any business owner will tell you, cameras as weapon to catch vandals is not very effective. You can have greatest picture or video in the world, but if nobody has a clue who the vandal is, it is worthless. When I worked for the parking companies, we always had a lot of video, but very few suspects. One other thing, checking videos is extreme time consuming. Just letting you what you are going to getting or not getting before you spend your money. Good luck in catching the low life.

I believe he has an identifiable suspect in this case, my dear Watson!

[finfan]

I will give some back story to clear things up.

95%+ of the time there is no car parked in front of their house. They have one car and it is always parked in their driveway. My relative has needed to park their car in front of their house about 6 times in the last 3+ years, and each time there was a handwritten note on the windshield saying he wasn't allowed to do that. Again this is a public street.

This neighbor has accused another neighbor of being a peeping tom. This was investigated by the police and no charges were filed.

The wife is a recluse who does nothing but watch my relative's house all day and report what is going on via facebook or twitter. She even posts pictures on these accounts. This harrassment has been going on for almost a year.

Regarding the car in question, it was parked there about 7 pm and the next day at about 12 pm they called the police and said that a car was abandoned and had been there for over three days. The police investigated and the car owner told them that the car was in his driveway until 7 pm the previous night.

These people have no problem lying to cops. Additionally the car owner found out that the husband was fired recently from his job for stealing from his employer.

The police won't do anything without video evidence. In fact one cop gave my relative a catalog of surveillance equipment with the advice, "Make sure you put a camera on the camera."

What happened to the days when cops would interview everyone and use their training to determine everyone's veracity? Ralph?

This will come to a head. I would rather resolve this peacefully but there is no reasoning with these people.

If I kick the shit out of this guy I will probably wind up getting charged. What to do?

[chickenhead]

This will come to a head. I would rather resolve this peacefully but there is no reasoning with these people.

I doubt you or your brother or whoever is going to get any resolution with these particular people. It sounds like they really don't like him.

You know that's what you're dealing with. Cops aren't going to solve this. This isn't a capital crime you're going to catch them in and get them sent away. They are still going to be there, they will just like him even less.

My suggestion? They seem to freak out over people parking in front of their house. Don't do that anymore. By doing so he invites them into his life, and forces himself in their life.

The 3 or 4 times a year he needs a place to park, he should go ask a non-crazy neighbor if he can park in front of their house for the night. If he isn't hated by the entire neighborhood, they'll say yes. Park there.

[finfan]

I doubt you or your brother or whoever is going to get any resolution with these particular people.
You are totally right about that ch.

This thread has drifted somewhat but the police want video evidence and I am still interested in learning more about obtaining that.

The accused peeping tom has an unobstructed view to the area in front of their house so he might be amenable to providing that.

[Greyfox]

If your brother insists on trying to catch whoever is doing it (it may not be the cross the street neighbor) - make sure that he puts 4 rotten tires on the vehicle.

Personally, I think trying to play "I Spy" can be a dangerous game.
Your brother should talk to the neighbor about his occasional problem, and if the neighbor doesn't agree, then he should avoid at all costs parking on that side of the street. These sorts of disputes can escalate and your brother's health is far more important than tires or catching the culprit.
Remember: Catching someone doing vandalism can make you dead right, and you may end up dead, right.

[JustRalph]

In the big scheme of things, patrol officers have much bigger fish to fry, therefore they are not interested in doing an interrogation and making any determination. Provide the video, that makes it easy for them.

Btw, back in the day we called this a Gladys Kravitz dispute

[bigmack]

Wha happa?

I love gigs like this. Me? I would have Google Earthed an entire 8 block radius and had people on roofs, The Woiks!

Those deer cameras are Fandango. (That's fantastic in TexMex) :ThmbUp:

In the very least, I would have had people with mirrors/CD's, something of that nature, to reFlect the sun into any and ALL windows they have facing the street, but ONLY during daylight. Let's be civil.

Last resort, AD/DC, Metallica them out ala Pineapple Face.

Gen. Mandingo Noriegoo.

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/images-6/manuel-noriega.jpg

[highnote]

Maybe offer to pay $5 or $10 to park the car overnight? If this is only done 6 times in a 3 year period it will only cost $60 total at $10 a pop.

Ask the suspected tire slasher if they would accept the money as payment for keeping an eye out for the tire slasher.

---

As an aside... when I lived in an apartment many years ago I used to park on the street around the block from our building when the lot was full. If I parked too far down the street in front of people's houses they would put a note on my windshield not to park in front of their house -- as if they owned the street! But that was enough to make me stop parking there. Now I notice that you need a "resident parking permit" to park on the public street!

[Robert Goren]

Good luck with video. Even you get them on camera and they are prosecuted, they aren't going away. All you have done is make them more cautious. You are in a no win situation. You are in the right and they are in the wrong, but from a practical point of view there is very little you can do. Be very careful here, these people are nuts and when ever you cross a nut there is chance for violence. This guy could be a Zimmerman waiting to happen.

[Rookies]

Yeah, but then vandalizing?

Unless you want to be constantly at each others throats neighbors need to work this stuff out. Go over and talk to them.

Dave's absolutely correct here.

THAT would be my suggestion. My neighbour, one of whom is a mechanic, was doing the same thing. Not appreciated in my neighbourhood.

We advised him- no vandalism. No problem.

[Valuist]

Or just call Bon Scott to settle things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH8N4s3pat0