With cases up 25% in Medford this year, protecting yourself is more important than ever and technology is making it easier, and cheaper.
Most burglars will spend no more than a minute trying to break into your home or vehicle, which means most victims won’t know something’s wrong until long after they’ve been victimized.
As technology advances, so do the tools you have available in the fight against crime.
Jerry Richardson catches criminals, on camera.
“Police can’t find anything, they rely on video, if your neighbor has video, hopefully it can help you, but if you have video, all the better, you’ll most likely get your stuff back,” said Richardson.
Richardson owns Video Pro Warehouse, his cameras can be found all over town, but so can crime.
“The way theft is right now, too many people stealing things, trying to pawn it,” said Richardson.
According to Medford Police property crime is up 25% in the first two months of 2016 compared to the same time last year. That includes a 120% increase in thefts from vehicles.
“Hopefully the more video that’s out there the more we can deter criminals from stealing everything we’ve got,” said Richardson.
They’re also putting thieves behind bars, for example a series of vehicle thefts last month.
“They went through the whole complex, and that wasn’t the only complex, and with our video, the police were able to find the vehicle and the subjects who were doing the thefts,” said Richardson.
With more cameras popping up every day, it’s a powerful weapon in the fight against crime.
“They went in they stole stuff, but they got caught, that’s what happens with video,” said Richardson.
Richardson says cameras for a home security system usually run around $350 each but only offer basic image quality.
He recommends doing your research before grabbing the cheapest camera on the shelf.
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