One of my good friends just told me that his Grandmother is being robbed blind by her caretakers. The poor woman is in her late 80's and requires 24/7 care. His Grandfather (WWII Veteran) has been deceased for a few years and his Gram has  lost much of her ability to function since his passing. I wish I would've known him better after hearing the stories about him.

They are stealing everything from towels, clothes, money (for her food and some medical supplies), and unfortunately his Gram's engagement ring. As you can imagine, they were livid when they noticed the ring missing.

This family isn't computer savvy so they asked me if I could find/setup a "NannyCam" or other discrete camera (no audio per PA wiretapping laws). "Gram" is on board with the plan. The ring was the final straw for her and it really broke her heart.

Does anyone have recommendations for a camera/system? Their budget is a couple hundred dollars give or take.

Here's some requirements and the general scenario:

I've been to their Grandmother's house a few times , but I don't recall the layout very well so I asked about the specifics. Most stuff is stolen from the kitchen area, usually on the island. They can't really hide the camera on the island because things are constantly being moved or placed in that area. They have recessed lighting directly above it (5-6') and suggested putting the camera there for a top-down view. There is also an area to perch the camera on top of the cabinets to overlook the island (unknown distance, but probably no more than 10ft). I'm going to scout it out tomorrow or Sunday.  

Some requirements for the camera: battery power supply, either SD card storage or wireless streaming to a pc (preferred), motion activated, no audio or selectable on/off audio to comply with PA laws, and high enough resolution to make a positive ID and to show the act clearly.

Any legal advice would be appreciated as well. Would a list of items previously stolen be of any use after they catch this SOB? From what I gather, they would like to get restitution, but more importantly they want to make sure this person can't victimize any other people. I know the penalties can correspond to the value of the items that are stolen, but I don't know if it would only apply to the stolen items they have video evidence of.

I'm going to donate my old laptop to the cause if we get a wifi based camera. There's no internet service within the house, but the neighbors might be willing to let us mooch their wireless temporarily (supposedly some caretakers are already helping themselves to it). It would be cool to have it streaming to the net, but it's not a deal breaker.

I really appreciate any help GD can provide for this matter. Thanks!

The only advice I've got for ya involves baseball bats and may get you in trouble sorry.

Good luck

call the police, it's called elder abuse in most states. Let them do their jobs, they wills etup cameras and do the whole investigation.

Nanny Cams

Good luck.

I had wondered about that angle. I'll check that out.

I would take this to assume that the neighbors have not properly secured their router.  So I would be careful on the wireless.  If they're savvy enough, they may be able to see the camera or your laptop as accessible devices on the network.





1.  It would be possible to setup a router without net access in the house just for the cameras and laptop to communicate and you would be able to secure it AND more importantly, not broadcast the SSID, effectively hiding the router from 99% of the population. (To access a router not broadcasting the SSID, you must know both the name of the router and the password.)





2. If the cameras you choose would support an ad-hoc connection, it would remove the router from the equation, but probably leave all devices visible.





3. Whether you choose WIFI or local SD card storage on the cameras, one security measure is gained, but another is lost.  Using WIFI, you risk exposure due to electronic signal and physical discovery of laptop. (Check with the neighbors and possibly host your laptop in their house to secure the backup storage.)

            Using SD card storage, you risk no backup of the video storage and possible destruction of all evidence.





4.  I would say my best suggestion would be using WIFI and hosting it at the neighbors if the signal is strong enough.
More knowledgeable IT guys, please correct me if I'm wrong.



 

I spoke with my friend (and his family) today. The neighbors are cool and their house isn't far away (typical suburban stick house). I found a camera disguised as a lightbulb that uses the socket for power and the house's wiring to broadcast. I imagine the vid quality sucks and it wouldn't surprise me if the signal got picked up. ETA... it's not a digital setup.

The problem I notice with the smaller stand-alone cams is either battery life or recording capacity. Most are only good for a couple hours.

Your friend (the grandson) needs to report this to the police IMMEDIATELY.

Don't waste time with amateur sleuthing on this.

This is a serious crime and these fuckshits need to be smacked hard by a DA.