Hello all,
I've been considering a dash cam for a year or so, but haven't really had the time to mess around with one. Originally, I just wanted the cam for insurance/safety reasons, but now the plot has thickened...
A few months ago my fiancé and I were offered jobs on the other side of the US. We accepted the jobs and hit the road. We've now been living here in an apartment complex for 3 months. So far 2 of my Amazon packages have 'disappeared' and another was found on my doorstep completely torn apart. I could care less about the value of the items I've lost, but what really sickens me is the fact that my fiancé has a very serious medical condition which requires that medication and supplies be delivered via mail order at least once a month. Without these supplies she could potentially die, and we don't want to risk that. I've reported the incidents to the local police department, the complex manager, USPS, and Amazon. The manager said they've had no other complaints about stuff being stolen from doorsteps, so I'm thinking the suspect must be someone who lives close enough that they can easily monitor the surrounding area. Unfortunately, nobody seems to really care about this, (which I understand, because I'm sure they have more important stuff to take care of) and that's fine with me because I'm determined to solve this mystery myself, as I LOVE a challenge.
As I said earlier, I live in an apartment--so as you may have guessed, I can't really drill any holes or modify the building. So installing a home security camera is pretty much impossible. In addition to that, I have reason to believe that the person stealing our stuff is living right across from us (as we're on the second floor and share a staircase with nobody but that particular neighbor). I also think it would be rather obvious if someone just climbed the steps to our apartment, grabbed a 4'x3' box and walked it back to their car/apartment like it was no big deal. It's a fairly big complex and I'd have to think that someone would have noticed this behavior and reported it. If it is the dude living across from us, all he would have to do is wait until USPS comes, listen for the mailman to knock at our door, then check 5 minutes later to see if the package is still outside--if it is, he can pretty much assume we're not home, at which point it would only take 2-3 seconds to grab the box and slide it back into his apartment.
I only saw the guy once since moving here, and he immediately walked up to me as I was exiting my car and started asking me all kinds of oddball questions-- "How much did you pay for that car? What year is it? Etc." I was just being friendly so I played along with his little game and answered his questions carefully. I told him I pay "roughly $300 a month" at which he scoffed and replied, "that's way too much! I could get you that same car for $13k." I wanted to laugh, but didn't because I'm kind. This random guy was telling me (an accountant, unbeknownst to him) that I paid too much for my car without even knowing if it was leased, if it was financed, the length of the loan, etc. He then pointed to a 2014 Maxima and said "that's my car there. I paid $24k for it 2 months ago, but even if you offered me $9,000 in cash I wouldn't sell it to you."
...Huh? What does that even mean? When did I even say I was interested in buying your car, guy?
At this point I pretty much just started walking away because they dude seemed really sketchy, and my dog didn't seem to like him either.
The second package was stolen after my fiancé flew out of town, but her car remained parked right outside of our apartment. So obviously the guy doesn't know which car is hers, because any normal human would assume she was home if her car was parked right outside, right? So now I'm thinking I can kill 2 birds with one stone by buying a dash cam and first using it to catch this fool by temporarily installing it in her car. Then when I'm done prosecuting him and sending him to a federal pen for 5-10, I'll install it in my car.
I've been looking around, but my new job requires me to return to school and pass the CPA exam within 18 months, so right now I don't exactly have enough free time to spend hours researching cameras and whatnot, so any helpful advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated. What I'm looking for is a camera that can record 8-10 hours of continuous video while the car is parked. I'd rather not have to drain her battery every day we try to catch this person, so what other alternatives do I have? Or is it safe to assume that 8-10 hours of recording wouldn't even really be enough to kill the battery (I did read that on another forum, but I'm sure that all depends on how much energy each particular camera consumes during recording).
And don't worry, I'll share the video when I catch this degenerate.
Thanks everyone.
I've been considering a dash cam for a year or so, but haven't really had the time to mess around with one. Originally, I just wanted the cam for insurance/safety reasons, but now the plot has thickened...
A few months ago my fiancé and I were offered jobs on the other side of the US. We accepted the jobs and hit the road. We've now been living here in an apartment complex for 3 months. So far 2 of my Amazon packages have 'disappeared' and another was found on my doorstep completely torn apart. I could care less about the value of the items I've lost, but what really sickens me is the fact that my fiancé has a very serious medical condition which requires that medication and supplies be delivered via mail order at least once a month. Without these supplies she could potentially die, and we don't want to risk that. I've reported the incidents to the local police department, the complex manager, USPS, and Amazon. The manager said they've had no other complaints about stuff being stolen from doorsteps, so I'm thinking the suspect must be someone who lives close enough that they can easily monitor the surrounding area. Unfortunately, nobody seems to really care about this, (which I understand, because I'm sure they have more important stuff to take care of) and that's fine with me because I'm determined to solve this mystery myself, as I LOVE a challenge.
As I said earlier, I live in an apartment--so as you may have guessed, I can't really drill any holes or modify the building. So installing a home security camera is pretty much impossible. In addition to that, I have reason to believe that the person stealing our stuff is living right across from us (as we're on the second floor and share a staircase with nobody but that particular neighbor). I also think it would be rather obvious if someone just climbed the steps to our apartment, grabbed a 4'x3' box and walked it back to their car/apartment like it was no big deal. It's a fairly big complex and I'd have to think that someone would have noticed this behavior and reported it. If it is the dude living across from us, all he would have to do is wait until USPS comes, listen for the mailman to knock at our door, then check 5 minutes later to see if the package is still outside--if it is, he can pretty much assume we're not home, at which point it would only take 2-3 seconds to grab the box and slide it back into his apartment.
I only saw the guy once since moving here, and he immediately walked up to me as I was exiting my car and started asking me all kinds of oddball questions-- "How much did you pay for that car? What year is it? Etc." I was just being friendly so I played along with his little game and answered his questions carefully. I told him I pay "roughly $300 a month" at which he scoffed and replied, "that's way too much! I could get you that same car for $13k." I wanted to laugh, but didn't because I'm kind. This random guy was telling me (an accountant, unbeknownst to him) that I paid too much for my car without even knowing if it was leased, if it was financed, the length of the loan, etc. He then pointed to a 2014 Maxima and said "that's my car there. I paid $24k for it 2 months ago, but even if you offered me $9,000 in cash I wouldn't sell it to you."
...Huh? What does that even mean? When did I even say I was interested in buying your car, guy?
At this point I pretty much just started walking away because they dude seemed really sketchy, and my dog didn't seem to like him either.
The second package was stolen after my fiancé flew out of town, but her car remained parked right outside of our apartment. So obviously the guy doesn't know which car is hers, because any normal human would assume she was home if her car was parked right outside, right? So now I'm thinking I can kill 2 birds with one stone by buying a dash cam and first using it to catch this fool by temporarily installing it in her car. Then when I'm done prosecuting him and sending him to a federal pen for 5-10, I'll install it in my car.
I've been looking around, but my new job requires me to return to school and pass the CPA exam within 18 months, so right now I don't exactly have enough free time to spend hours researching cameras and whatnot, so any helpful advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated. What I'm looking for is a camera that can record 8-10 hours of continuous video while the car is parked. I'd rather not have to drain her battery every day we try to catch this person, so what other alternatives do I have? Or is it safe to assume that 8-10 hours of recording wouldn't even really be enough to kill the battery (I did read that on another forum, but I'm sure that all depends on how much energy each particular camera consumes during recording).
And don't worry, I'll share the video when I catch this degenerate.
Thanks everyone.