Mississippi homeowners association installs megapixel security cameras

San Juan Capistrano, CA, May 15, 2012—IQinVision, market leader in high-performance HD megapixel IP cameras, today announced that the Plantation Lakes Homeowners’ Association (HOA), located in Olive Branch, MS, relies on a mix of IQeye HD megapixel cameras to enhance security at the 450-home development. Cyber Technology Security is the integrator for this on-going project.

“We have 450 homes, located on three lakes, and we’re practically a suburb of nearby Memphis, TN. We were experiencing a lot of folks riding through our neighborhoods looking for items placed at the curb or to do some fishing,” related Keith Dial, President of Plantation Lakes Homeowners’ Association. “We’ve had some no trespassing signs, but we’re not a gated community, so we needed a more effective deterrent.”

Plantation Lakes has three entrances, marked by 15-foot high brick columns. With so few ways in, it seemed logical to monitor who was coming in and out from these chokepoints. “I’d like to think we saw the future,” recalled Dial, “in that we were looking for a way to help us avoid confrontations with anybody coming in, and we were looking to increase our deterrent effect against unwanted visitors.”

Plantation Lakes, like many communities, maintains a Neighborhood Watch committee. Given recent events in Florida, where a Neighborhood Watch member fatally shot a young man he suspected of trespassing, such incidents weigh heavily on the minds of the management for homeowners’ associations. “We might have a situation where they [Neighborhood Watch member] might feel they need to confront someone. Early on, we saw this could be dangerous,” explained Dial.

Dial and the HOA Board of Directors contacted Hugh Brewer of Cyber Technology Security, and Brewer recommended megapixel cameras from IQinVision be installed at each of the entrances to Plantation Lakes. “I noticed right away the combined effect of ‘No Trespassing’ signs plus cameras cut in half the number of people driving through looking for items at the curb or a FedEx package, items of opportunity,” said Dial. “Our best interests are served by monitoring our surveillance footage and reporting to the proper authorities.”

Plantation Lakes stores their high-quality megapixel images for up to 30 days, so anytime an incident is reported, they have the footage on file to properly investigate and identify what people and/or vehicles entered and left the property during the period when the incident occurred. Future plans call for installing additional cameras at each entrance to extend the field of vision down each street and to capture vehicles from multiple angles. Also, the Homeowners’ Association will expand their live monitoring of camera views.

Perhaps an unexpected, but highly welcome, result of the increased security for Plantation Lakes is the positive effect owners are experiencing on home values. Dial has observed that re-sale values are up, and the community has been running down the inventory of homes that were in foreclosure. “This level of sophisticated security demonstrates that we are staying updated, not outdated. We are presenting a better face to potential homeowners. That’s part of our mission, to make the community safer and help those home values go up.”

This level of sophisticated security demonstrates that we are staying updated, not outdated. That’s part of our mission, to make the community safer and help those home values go up. Keith Dial, President of Plantation Lakes HOA

Dial reports that local police are aware of the video surveillance program, and they have on occasion viewed some of the association’s footage. Dial has also observed that the surveillance footage helps to identify high traffic periods and times when certain traffic patterns develop, so they, in turn, can alert the authorities to potential problems.

All in all, Dial and the HOA have been very satisfied with the results of their video surveillance program to date. “All this is a benefit for us. We don’t have to use our Neighborhood Watch to, for example, take a tag number. We reduce the interactions. We’ve got a process in place that lets people know they are being monitored, and we don’t have to approach them. It’s a huge deterrent, and it also gives us high-quality images when needed. The community definitely seems satisfied with what we’ve done. Along with our neighborhood Courtesy Patrol, we are demonstrating that your community is being monitored, and the cost per homeowner is minimal.”

“This program and our use of IQeye megapixel technology puts us on the map compared with other communities not doing this. We’re not just keeping up with the Joneses, we are the Joneses,” Dial concluded.