Car Camera/Security questions

[Talint]

tl;dr: My neighbors are dickchins and are probably going to fuck up my car soon. I'm looking for a camera for my car in case some vandalizing shit happens. Any suggestions?

In my apartment complex, there is assigned parking. Since the day I moved in, my neighbors have been trying everything in their power to claim my spot for themselves; from accusing me of stealing it ("it belongs to my daughter!") to flat out just parking in it and using it as if it was theirs to begin with.

Said complex has been very complying, and have issued them tickets and threats of towing to act as a deterrent to no avail. They have suggested that I start getting their cars towed directly rather than wait for the complex to act (they have to wait 96 hours) and I'm finally at a point where I need to start doing this.

I imagine when this starts happening, my car will start "mysteriously" showing dents and be the victim of other random acts of passive-aggressive vandalism. I would like to make sure I get any incidents on video so I have some proof when time comes to accuse them.

So I'm looking for a device that I can leave on during the night/when I'm parked to record video to capture anything that might happen. No idea where to begin or where to start looking. Any suggestions on devices (or other methods to deal with this) would be crazy helpful.

[bluefan]

A friend of mine used a Sony Handycam for almost exactly the same scenario (in his case, it was recording the front of his house). Can easily record for an entire night with a good size SD card.

[FNH]

need more information about what the lot looks like, where your apartment is located from the spot, any trees near the spot? etc etc

[Churchill]

https://www.google.com/shopping/prod...20892269332716

[Talint]

need more information about what the lot looks like, where your apartment is located from the spot, any trees near the spot? etc etc

Ah, sure.

It's a giant, concrete apartment complex; and is a traditional 5-story parking garage that loops upwards (spots on the right and left, passage in the middle). My apartment does not provide a clear line of sight to my car in any respect whatsoever -- it's down a long hallway. Parking spaces are kind of tight.

Thanks for the quick replies, all.

[Lucki]

This may be a dumb question, but is there any way for you to get the property managers to assign you a new parking spot? Or are the parking spots stenciled with the apartment numbers they belong to.

[myreality]

This may be a dumb question, but is there any way for you to get the property managers to assign you a new parking spot? Or are the parking spots stenciled with the apartment numbers they belong to.

I think it is now a matter of principle.

Also have no idea what camera to use.

[Genosync]

Honestly, I'm sure you could get out of your lease at this point if the complex refuses to provide you with what they've stated is yours at all times.

Look into it and get out. Giving money to a business that doesn't treat their customers right is stupid and makes them think it's acceptable to continue doing the same in the future.

[Serra]

Said complex has been very complying, and have issued them tickets and threats of towing to act as a deterrent to no avail. They have suggested that I start getting their cars towed directly rather than wait for the complex to act (they have to wait 96 hours) and I'm finally at a point where I need to start doing this.

Umm, if you start having to do this, are they going to reimburse you for the cost? It seems odd that they would tell you to do that since it's their responsibility.

[FNH]

Ah, sure.

It's a giant, concrete apartment complex; and is a traditional 5-story parking garage that loops upwards (spots on the right and left, passage in the middle). My apartment does not provide a clear line of sight to my car in any respect whatsoever -- it's down a long hallway. Parking spaces are kind of tight.

Thanks for the quick replies, all.

That type of lot makes it more difficult to put up a camera than an open lot, unfortunately. May require you partnering with the company.

[Talint]

This may be a dumb question, but is there any way for you to get the property managers to assign you a new parking spot? Or are the parking spots stenciled with the apartment numbers they belong to.

They're tied to apartment #. They don't have the actual apartment number on the space, but they are numbered and all spots are assigned to a specific apartment.

Honestly, I'm sure you could get out of your lease at this point if the complex refuses to provide you with what they've stated is yours at all times.

Look into it and get out. Giving money to a business that doesn't treat their customers right is stupid and makes them think it's acceptable to continue doing the same in the future.

Well, there's only so much they can do other than what they're doing, short of evicting this mother/daughter, which isn't exactly good for business.

I feel like the complex has been working with me in good faith here: I haven't experienced any push back from them.

Umm, if you start having to do this, are they going to reimburse you for the cost? It seems odd that they would tell you to do that since it's their responsibility.

Well, the way the law works, if I can prove the spot belongs to me (which I can, as it's on my lease), then they tow without incident or charge. The owner of the vehicle incurs all responsibility for towing.

That type of lot makes it more difficult to put up a camera than an open lot, unfortunately. May require you partnering with the company.

Yeah. This is why I was hoping for something I could mount inside the car ideally.

[BaneTheBrawler]

a series of dashcams, then?

[Boyiee]

A concrete parking structure means there will be ceilings beams and pillars with nooks to hide cameras in most cases. They make them pretty small nowadays and can record for quite a while.

I would double up here, one camera outside of the vehicle perched in a place where the vehicle is within view but so the camera isn't within 20 feet of the vehicle. Think on the beam on the opposite side that your car is parked in.

I would also use a dual direction dash cam that doesn't run off of the vehicles power. Then more inconspicuous the better. if they see the camera they won't damage your car.

You can do well for sub 200 here. You can use either option or both, but to get all views cheapest I'd use the camera on the opposite side of your car perched high if possible.

[Blubbartron]

I'd recommend the camera inside the car before one on the outside. It's more likely that douchebags will be identifiable from the angles you can get from the inside (since people tend not to walk up to cars backwards and all).

[MaachaQ]

Anything inside the car won't have nearly as good a view of what is going on to the car as something mounted outside. Dashcams are mainly meant to capture what happens while you're driving, so as to catch insurance fraud and find out who is at fault during collisions; for situations like this an external camera pointed at the car would get a much better view of what is happening to the car itself and who is doing it. Maybe an internal camera would catch the person's face, but it couldn't see what they are doing to the outside of the car. A combination of both kinds would be ideal, but then you're pushing the price higher and higher... The cheapest solution would be to get 1-2 cameras and mount them somewhere in a nearby tree or elevated structure so that they would overlook the parking space, but be as inconspicuous as possible. They'd need to be high enough resolution to ensure that you can prove the identity of the people captured, or the footage will be useless.

[Boyiee]

Very highly disagree. Dashcams pointed inside catch an absurd amount of shit.

Then first thing people do is slash tires and key it, so getting both inside and out is the most effective.

[Nephlite]

Could go all out and put some pin hole cameras behind the glass in your side mirrors and one pointing to the front. A camera that overlooks the whole thing would be awesome as well. Church was on the money with the one he posted (have one on my front lawn). Any camera will do just make sure you have good resolution even in low light situations, you can usually photoshop the dark spots out to reveal better images.

Just keep calling the people out to come tow their shit and if they try to do something, you can take them to court. You could be very evil and just straight sue them since technically what they're doing is attempting to permanently deprive you of goods or services (theft).

[NynJa]

I could be wrong, but if they wind up damaging your shit and you go press charges, couldnt you theoretically also tack on the cost of the camera's, since it was due to them you had to go to such measures. You obtain proof of such by getting a statement from landlord that they've been ticketed on numerous occasions for being in your spot, and you rightfully feared retaliation for towing, compounded by purchase date of cameras after their ticketing dates.

Or is that too much of a stretch?

[BaneTheBrawler]

well hopefully it wont come to that, since that would require that his car be damaged. but once it is... seems plausible.

[Nephlite]

I could be wrong, but if they wind up damaging your shit and you go press charges, couldnt you theoretically also tack on the cost of the camera's, since it was due to them you had to go to such measures. You obtain proof of such by getting a statement from landlord that they've been ticketed on numerous occasions for being in your spot, and you rightfully feared retaliation for towing, compounded by purchase date of cameras after their ticketing dates.

Or is that too much of a stretch?

Compounding costs usually punitive damages that can be assessed in court. Rightfully so, the landlord needs to man up since the actions of one of his tenants jeopardizes the quality of life of another tenant and regular means of mitigation through mediation and action isn't doing anything, the next step is eviction.