Upgrade Your Community Security With HOA Property Cameras
One of the top perks of living in a community with a homeowners association is being able to enjoy the amenities that come with it. For many neighborhoods, this means that residents have access to use a clubhouse, pool, tennis courts or a playground. These perks make your neighborhood stand out above the rest. Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad. Since so many people can have access to these common areas, they often times are victim to vandalism and crime. The experts at Audio Video Excellence recommend that your HOA invests in HOA property cameras to protect your neighborhood.
How HOA Property Cameras Benefit Your Community
Surveillance cameras are ideal for HOA common areas because they can deter and monitor delinquent activity and rule violations. It’s a well-reported fact that security cameras can minimize vandalism and crimes. HOAs of condominium complexes, apartment communities and detached home neighborhoods would benefit by installing HOA security cameras to lower the frequency of vandalism, car break-ins and crime – such as drug activity. The effectiveness of security cameras for HOA uses is successful in reducing these low-level crimes, especially in shared parking areas. Whether or not your community has a history of such activity, using cameras for this purpose will make your neighborhood’s residents feel safer, which is a top for priority for all residents.
Some HOAs might be tempted to install dummy cameras, which are fake, prop cameras that are installed to give the illusion that the area is monitored, which typically discourages low-level crimes. We urge HOAs to not go this route because it essentially communicating to your community that the area is under surveillance, whereas that is not the truth. Don’t give your residents a false sense of security. To serve and protect your neighborhood to the fullest, install and maintain high-quality, functioning security cameras. Additionally, this method can prove to be ineffective if others know that the camera is not in use. If your community has dummy cameras, it could earn a reputation for not being monitored, which could provoke activity that would otherwise be deterred with functioning cameras.
Where Should HOA Property Cameras Be Installed?
We encourage HOAs to increase their security by placing property cameras in common areas – to avoid crimes such as vandalism, auto break-ins, drug activity and violence. However, keep in mind that the aforementioned insights of HOA property cameras were strictly for common areas such as recreational facilities and parking lots. HOA organizations can benefit from installing surveillance cameras in these common areas to monitor criminal activity, vandalism and rule violations.
Below are a few common areas of where HOAs could install cameras:
- Basketball Courts
- Clubhouses
- Dog Parks
- Parking Lots
- Playgrounds
- Swimming Pools
- Tennis Courts
Though they are essential tools for maintaining a safe HOA common area, be mindful of where you place your HOA property cameras, as they could be an invasion of privacy for those who live in your neighborhood. Surveillance cameras should not be installed in areas that would compromise the privacy of your community’s residents. Do not position HOA property cameras in a direction that would be able to capture private house fronts, residential windows or any aspect of the private lives and areas of your community’s residents.
FAQs About HOA Property Cameras
How Can HOA Property Cameras Help My Neighborhood?
Unfortunately, the nature of common areas is that they can become a target for criminal activity – usually low-level crimes. By monitoring common areas, HOA property cameras can help improve your community’s safety by deterring these types of crimes. You can give your neighborhood’s residents peace-of-mind knowing that the community they live in is free of this kind of activity. Having the ability to monitor all activity on your HOA’s property is a huge advantage and perk for the HOA and its residents.
Will A Dummy Camera Work In Place Of HOA Property Cameras?
We advise against using dummy cameras, which are false or prop cameras that are put in place to discourage delinquent activity. While this might work from time to time, we persuade against this idea for two main reasons.
- Using a dummy camera is essentially lying to your community. Installing a camera implies that you are actively monitoring the activity captured by the camera; however, if the camera is not working, you are giving members of your community a false sense of security.
- If more and more people learn that the cameras around your HOA property are not operating, then your community might gain a reputation that reflects that. With residents’ and others’ knowing this, you might encounter criminal activity regardless of the dummy cameras.
Are HOA Property Cameras An Invasion Of Privacy?
HOAs can install surveillance cameras in common areas such as pool, tennis courts, playgrounds and clubhouses. However, cameras cannot be installed where a person’s privacy can be compromised. This includes but is not limited to locker rooms; bathrooms; and areas that might monitor house fronts, residential windows, and any other private areas that your residents would not prefer to be under surveillance. In other words, HOA property cameras are legal if you use and position them strictly to monitor common areas.
In Need Of HOA Property Cameras? Trust The Pros At Audio Video Excellence
For expert advice on products, positioning and camera usage, count on the licensed professionals at Audio Video Excellence for your HOA property cameras needs. We have years of experience professionally installing cameras for HOAs and other commercial facilities. Our finished product exceeds standards by being clean and professional. All wiring will be properly connected and hidden so that your cameras function properly and look neat and discrete.
For expert installation of HOA property cameras in Atlanta, contact Audio Video Excellence today at 855-275-8926 or [email protected].