Where to Place Security Cameras

If you're on a tight budget or are forced to repurpose an old set of cameras not of the PTZ sort (pan, tilt zoom), you are going to be forced to figure out before you begin where to put the cameras and where they should point. It's interesting to understand the fact that the placement of a security camera can help or hurt you in the court of law depending on whether or not the footage captured by it can match the identity a criminal. If it can't, all you're left with is what you probably already are aware of - something definitely happened. Because of this, it's highly important to get these things right the first time.

Be sure nothing is blocking the camera

Nobody should have to tell you this, but it's very important to make sure the camear's field of view is clear. If the camera(s) are not indoors, keep in mind that trees and bushes do in fact become larger over time and even though they weren't blocking the camera's field of view at the time you set it up, that doesn't mean they won't be in a few months.

Get as much in the picture as you can

It's a good idea, scratch that, absolutely necessary to put the camera at an angle that can cover the area in question, like a hallway, front door, parking lot, etc., and as much of the surrounding area as possible. This will add to the amount of time a person of interest is caught on film, which also increases the chances security or law inforcement will be able to identify the individual. It can also catch other valuable information that may not enter the vicinity of where you'd usually think to film, like vehicles and their license plates, other people with the person, or which direction they came from. Sometimes this information can be just as useful as a closeup of their face.

Be close enough to get their face in the picture

This probably seems contrary to the last section, however, getting a clear shot of the criminal's face is one of the next best things to a fingerprint you can have when it comes to forensics. Anyone with CCTV training can tell you this. However, most criminals aren't dumb enough not to keep their faces covered when they know security cameras might be present so covering a lot of area is still a good idea. As an example of having the best of both worlds, consider the cameras at ATMs. They are positioned directly at your face while you're making a transaction, but can also easily see what's behind you and where you came from.

In the end, fixed camera placement is pretty self explantory. The only way you can really screw it up is to not bother looking where the cameras are facing, and it's hard to imagine anyone (or at least anyone who cares) failing to do that. But, then again, things like trees and vines eventually blocking the camera's field of view may not be obvious at the time of installation.