Pandemic leads to increase in home surveillance, car security systems

Sep. 20—Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic and a perceived increase in crime since the coronavirus spread around the country has affected the security industry.

In the home security sector, the pandemic accelerated a shift toward surveillance that was already underway, said Bruce Marcus, owner of Marcus Communications in Manchester.

Home surveillance used to be a niche business. Camera systems had to be professionally installed and wired, and they weren't cheap, Marcus said.

Now, anyone can order cameras online at a reasonable price with options for high definition and night vision that put the cameras of yesterday to shame, he said.

When the pandemic kept most people stuck at home in the spring and summer of 2020, bored homeowners saw an opportunity to take on long-delayed renovation projects. While restaurants sat empty, customers lined up at hardware paint counters.

It's not hard to imagine those same people, with extra money to spend, installing a few cameras at their house, Marcus said. These days, homeowners install cameras for numerous reasons. Some want to see what's going on outside their front door, or who's walking up their driveway, and others want to see what their dog is doing while they're at work, said Marcus.

"Surveillance is the biggest thing," Sean Henry, a project manager at Associated Security in East Hartford, said.

For Associated, though, the past year and a half has exerted conflicting pressures, Henry said.

Business slumped for a while because homeowners didn't want workers coming into their house.

At the same time, there seemed to be more incidents of car thefts and burglaries that customers heard about on the news or from neighbors, such as one in Glastonbury in July.

A woman living on Talcottville Road was shot at when she opened her home's front door after seeing two men approach her vehicle around 3 a.m.

"People don't want security when they feel safe," Henry said.

At Rob Lewis's store, Extreme Audio in Manchester, employees have gone from installing one car alarm a week to two or three.

The increase began last year, but saw its biggest jump about eight months ago, mainly from customers looking to protect their wheels and tires, but catalytic converters too.

James Smith, owner of ACT Audio in Vernon, said many car owners misunderstand what their car's alarm can do.

In most cases it will be set off if a door is improperly opened or the ignition is tampered with, leaving the car vulnerable in other scenarios, Smith said.

One option to protect a vehicle's wheels or tires is to install an alarm that senses when the vehicle is tilted, Lewis said. If someone jacks up the vehicle, the alarm should sense it.

An alarm that senses shock can protect from catalytic converter thefts, because most thieves use electric-powered saws that produce vibration, Lewis said.

These days the systems allow car owners to get notifications on their phone when their alarm is set off, so they'll know even if they're not close enough to hear the alarm, Lewis added.

At his shop in Vernon, installation of a basic alarm system takes two to three hours, and costs about $300, but there are many other gadgets that can be installed too, said Smith.

Many of the security and safety systems available on new cars are based on innovations first made in the after-market industry and can be installed on an older vehicle at a fraction of the price, he said.

Cameras aren't the sole domain of home security either — they can be installed in vehicles too, said Smith.

Just like at a home, Smith said his shop can install a system that records 360 degrees around and sends a live stream to the owner's cellphone.

For breaking news and happenings in North Central Connecticut, follow Matthew Knox on Twitter: @MatthewPKnoxJI, and Facebook: Matthew P. Knox JI.

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