Low Cost - High Tech Security
From The Evidence Log Magazine
by Detective David Kappler, Cherry Hill, NJ Police Department
I recently purchased a Logitech 3000 "webcam" camera to use for video conferencing and sending video e-mails. The total cost was under $100.00. In the included software is a program called "Motion Detector". It is very simple to use. You set the camera to point at the area you want monitored and set the software sensitivity level. The program runs in the background and whenever it detects motion in the field of view of the camera, it starts to record. A video file is created on the computer. I have mine pointed at the entrance door to the property room. It starts recording when the door opens and continues to record until it no longer detects any motion. The average movie clip is about 3-5 seconds long and takes up about 200kb on the hard drive. The sole purpose of the system is to record any unauthorized entrances and there have been none since putting the system in place. It does, however, record the first employee to arrive and the last to leave for the day. The system is turned off during normal business hours. These extraneous files are periodically deleted so they don't clutter the hard disk.
I am only familiar with the Logitech camera I have, but there are many "webcam" cameras on the market available in a variety of price ranges. A little research could go a long way to increase the security of your property room.