According to statistics from the FBI, a violent crime occurs every 18 seconds, a violent assault every 29 seconds, a rape every five minutes and a murder every 24 minutes. It is a sad fact of life that crime is so prevalent, and fear of crime is a concern that must be tackled.

It is perfectly rational and understandable to take precautions to protect yourself and ensure that you minimize the chances of you becoming a victim of crime. There is no way to totally eliminate your chances of becoming a victim. However, if you are in a state of constant anxiety, always worrying about going home after dark or afraid to walk under that bridge or such, this is unhealthy. Yes, the numbers are high, but then so are the chances of you not being a victim as well. Unfortunately, too many people let themselves be ruled by the negatives of life and be dominated by fear.

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Living in an apartment or condo offers both advantages and drawbacks when it comes to security. Regardless of the size of any given complex, the management of the complex will typically make (even if it is token) efforts to ensure that the premises are kept relatively secure. Sometimes this takes the form of hiring guards to watch over the premises.

While having security guards present makes the tenants feel more secure, it also benefits them in turn as it increases the value of their property, as the property is now a more desirable place to live. However, the management has to be pragmatic; it is financially not viable to protect the units in a complex on an individualistic basis, so typically security measures are communal, such as a fence or alarm at common entry points. What this means therefore is that the burden of security both in terms of stress and expense, falls rather weightily upon the tenants.

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It may sound like a statement of the painfully obvious, but housebreakers do not want to get caught, and will take any and all measures at their disposal so as to better ensure that they are not detected. Not only do they want to remain undiscovered during the commission of the crime, they also want to be able to commit the crime secure in the knowledge that they have left behind no incriminating evidence that will send them to jail. To defeat the burglar in both these regards, video surveillance systems are an excellent investment.

Video surveillance systems can be a great deterrent because as soon as most housebreakers see the cameras, they tend to think twice about trying to break in. The great advantage of video surveillance systems is that they provide you with a real time view of whatever is going on wherever the camera is installed. With remarkable breakthroughs in sound and video quality, video cameras have become highly effective tools in the war against crime as they provide strong evidence allowing for the criminals to be convicted.

Such video surveillance systems fall within one of two broad categories, each with their own individual benefits and drawbacks: covert and overt. Covert video surveillance systems have cameras hidden from view while overt video surveillance systems have cameras in plain sight. Overt video cameras are ideal for serving as a potent deterrent, as most criminals will see them and balk; they will instead seek easier targets.

Covert video cameras allow for clandestine recording, effectively catching a thief in the act. Catching a thief in the act is especially important if the thief or suspect is someone close to you and whom you cannot safely challenge directly concerning your suspicions. Don?t feel guilty for spying on these people; it is your home and you have every right to take steps to better safeguard and ensure that the security of your home is maintained.

Hiding the camera is also just as effective if not more so than overt video surveillance systems, so long as you quite clearly advertise this fact around the perimeter of your home. The would-be housebreaker has no real or safe way of determining where exactly the cameras are so this means that the potential risk of being caught is increased dramatically. More often than not, the housebreaker will realize that such houses are just not worth trying to break into.

Both the price and sophistication of video surveillance systems vary considerably, and more often than not, the two factors will be directly related to one another. Some video surveillance systems are little more than glorified camcorders mounted while others allow for a degree of control via a remote monitor.

The latest video surveillance systems offer the ability to connect the camera to your computer, thereby allowing you a greater degree of flexibility in terms of editing the material caught by the camera. Perhaps you may want to program the camera so that it will not record for the times of the day when you are at home either because you may find it a wasteful exercise or an invasion of privacy. The top of the range models of video surveillance systems can also have additional such as motion sensors and thermal detectors attached to them. There is a huge range of video surveillance systems to choose based on your budget and your level of vulnerability.

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