Need setup to catch evidence of neighbours to take to the police

Communities Blog
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Alrighty, how to start this one?

I guess I'll start with what I need to setup and then go into the why. So I need to be able to record my neighbour doesn't have to be crystal clear just good enough to make out what he's saying. The problem is he's yelling and raving from the middle of his garden and plays his radio to mask it, but he's doing it in a way so we can hear him.

I need clear or good enough audio samples to take to police, As each time we put in a complaint they say we need to provide evidence despite this household in the avenue having multiple complaints from other neighbours.

Now personally for me, I don't care how much I need to spend to get my family some peace of mind, As we're trying the civil route again here is what we've been dealing with.

  • The neighbour's son attacked my dad when attempting to collect a parcel left at their address.

  • The neighbour is always peering into the garden and throwing insults at the person which he mostly does to my mother and sister.

  • His son flying his drone with a camera into our garden to spy/invoke a violent response from us. (This stopped after he spotted me recording him flying it near our garden)

  • After screening the fence off so he can't look into it anymore, he moved to watching us from his bedroom window.

  • The insults have now become threats and mutterings to himself about him not caring if he goes to jail.

  • Purposely sets their tv to full volume to keep us awake this starts at 10 pm and ends at 5 am. (Unfortunately, this one is working on my sister, and noise complaints aren't doing jack)

  • Neighbour has started to throw stones at our extensions windows.

I have an HP microserver with 16TB worth of NAS drives sitting around not doing anything, and I'm planning on buying some IP cameras and setting them up around the garden and have them record to that then review the footage at the end of the week. For audio I'm thinking of adding a couple of mics along the fence and log that into the same box.

So my question would be what a good brand of microphones I could use outdoors and IP cameras as I'm new to looking into this I'd thought I get some suggestions from you guys and go from there.

If you're wondering what's my budget, it's currently ÂŁ1000 which will get ÂŁ500 added to each month. I was starting to save to move out but that can wait, and my parents deserve to have some peace and quiet.

Thanks for reading this long ass post.

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get wired cameras

yep

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Sorry to hear all that man, but at least your police are willing to help. I had a problem and my PD said "Don't bother collecting surveillance evidence. We are too overwhelmed to look at anything you give us." I set up a fake $15 camera and that solved the problem. Life in big city America is weird.

I am no expert on this but I would suggest getting a few highly directional (the long tube type used on police stakeouts) microphones that you can conceal on your property. Those people sound like they would have no problem with destroying anything you set up. Don't put the mics on the fence, they will be in pieces or gone by morning. Another consideration (that I have no idea about) is, How do you time stamp an audio recording? That may be important for qualifying the evidence. Is recording without consent legal? In the US most of the time you must state on taped evidence "I am going to record this. Do you approve? Clearly state yes or no into the mic." Your mileage may vary.

Setup video recording also. If they enter your property uninvited or you catch them throwing rocks or some other uncivilized behavior, you got 'em.

And most of all, be clandestine. If those jerks discover they are being watched, they may step up the abuse, instead of scurrying away back to the slime pit that they crawled out of.

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And it happens to accidentally stream your dear piece of shit neighbors to YouTube. :smiley:

But really I would avoid directly recording to neighbors side or to them because it can turn around nasty and like worst case scenario it picks neighbor moms bushes.

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Not sure of the cost but something like this will prolly work to grab his mutterings.

http://www.endoacustica.com/microphone-dish.htm

They can be had in a lot of different configurations and price ranges.

Hopefully where you live doesn't have laws about recording conversations without consent.

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Those people sound like they would have no problem with destroying anything you set up.

Luckily the son is trying to get us in legal trouble so far every attempt has failed. So he'd be screwing himself over if he directly damaged anything.

Another consideration (that I have no idea about) is, How do you time stamp an audio recording? That may be important for qualifying the evidence.

From what we've been advised we wouldn't need to provide as date/time stamps just proof that we are now being threatened. But I was thinking of a script on a VM to record every hour and have it add the date and time it started and ended recording into the file name. Then hand it over to the police.

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in most of the US, you're free to set up surveillance on your own property, but NOT to intentionally record public or private property in the process. I would suspect this would apply to something like pointing a directional mic at someone else's house.

Make sure it's very clear (by watching the recordings) that your cameras are pointed at your property. If, in order to capture all of your property in the frame, you incidentally capture your neighbor's actions, that should be fine.

I was given this advice by a police officer in southern California. you may want to talk to police in your area first.

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That one looks good can hide it as a satellite dish I'll have a look into different models.

Given the advice, we've gotten we're ok to do this as it's been recommended by the police and is recorded on file. If our neighbours wanted to take us for recording without consent, they'd have to prove we were doing so outside of our current case.

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What if you go through all this trouble and expenditures in equipment only to have the police dismiss your evidence because they can't review it (like in the other post above)? I would suggest testing this theory first by taking your drone evidence to the police. See how they react to that.

Unless you simply want to invest and up your security anyway.

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We've wanted to set something up security wise for a while this just gives us the push to do it.

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@Randomio can I ask that you post the specs of your system here when you finally choose? Wiring diagrams would be cool too with all the IP's sanitized out.

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"Time stamps" are achieved with timecode, and is a feature of production recorders. It's mostly on the higher end, so not right for this application (OP should be feeding directly into a computer via an interface or the camera hardware).

The directional mics are shotgun mics, but would be better replaced by a parab dish for directionality. The problem is, if he isn't standing in exactly the right spot, he won't be picked up.

OP, I'd recommend finding some cheap mics you can set up outdoors and don't mind replacing. You can get a bag of cheap omni lavs from Amazon for $3. That'd be discreet as well, if you mounted it on a fence and ran the cable back, though you should be sure you don't have to run the cable too far. Wireless is overkill for this, and would require constant battery changes. You know, I've never really looked for dedicated outdoor surveillance mics, but I'd bet they're out there. In any case, my recommendation is to buy lots of cheap mics you can replace easily for whenever it rains, or your neighbor spots one and destroys it. If you go the lav route, get some rycote overcovers for wind pro.

Privacy depends on state. I believe it falls under wiretapping law. "One party" states only require one party to be aware of the recording, while "two party" states require full consent. Privacy only matters if the neighbor should have a "reasonable expectation of privacy." If it's on your side of the fence, you're probably good. Peeking over or into the cracks of a shuttered window... not so much.

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I would consult a lawyer first. They may put you in contact with a private eye. (American terms I know)

My deepest condolences, what your going through is soooo wrong.

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Damn that sucks man, sorry to hear that.

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better idea: move. If you can't move, move anyway.

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You must live next door to my neighbors on the other side of them.

For about 18 years now this is the 3rd time I’ve moved in the same State where at ea residence I had very similar problems to each one. Now my situation is exactly like yours except to eliminate the TV broadcast at night… It’s now the drones with cameras, plural, when the lights go out. I have had bb guns through windows, golf balls through windows, tons of trash ALL the time when my yard is maintained and trees and bushes killed in the same manner by them also vulgar mutterings when I go outside / cars of them and their friends being used as weapons on the streets and highways; That’s just a few things. Cops don’t do much bcs the neighbors as I have learned through the years / not just name calling them, but are Chronic criminals, antagonistic uneducated low-income needy post or drug addicts VOYUERS and have been drug dealers and cookers of the bad stuff…Moving so far has not changed bcs 99.9% of the concentration of our communities now are on drugs; including retired and elderly, parents, doctors, nurses teachers and any others. What this does to their brain is what’s happening to mankind…I have seen ALL of this, not just my opinion…PROMISE

Survailance investments are good in real time for yourself…In court however it’s useless and so is calling Police as far as STOPPing it.

To become aware is your best defence and do not discuss anything outside the home; caulk all window and door jams, you can soundproof some walls by the windows but that’s expensive, put your equipment inside by windows. Get online website survailance so you can watch real time… Recording is nuisance and waste of time and money…

IF YOU DON’T MOVE…

Instead; my 2 cents, Purchase and have installed Commercial intercom system aimed at them from a door on that side…(incoming /outgoing voice) And FOUR LG commercial HIGH INTENSITY LIGHTS WITH SENSORS… I AM STILL WANTING TO ATTACH A LOUD MARINE TYPE HORN THAT’S ATTACHED TO SAME SENSORS… Those horns are LOUD and embarrass ing.

EMBARRASS THEM BCS THAT’S WHAT THEY FIND SEXUALLY EXCITING TO THEMSELVES…
Think biological activities of the mind when it comes to this kind of behaviour… Combat that!
Legal jargon does not look at the CORE OF THE PROBLEM, only what’; not why…

Haven’t investigated that; but if the cops cant stop them, I have a right as a homeowner to protect my own privacy and property…

I am female, smart, with interesting life, mid-age living alone…
Good Luck

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This thread is a couple of months old now, how’d it go @Randomio?

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Do you have a general ground plan of your plot? I can help you set up angles for camera coverage.

Also, get everyone in the neighborhood to call the cops all at once and if they STILL don’t do anything about it go to the station wih the group.