Speco Technologies is leading the way to develop products that help prevent crime before it happens and is recorded. "We want to help keep people safe rather than record a tragedy that could have been prevented," declared Todd Keller, president of Speco.

A couple of years ago, Speco introduced the Digital Deterrent™ System which is available in the TH Family of DVRs. Once motion is detected by a surveillance camera networked to a DVR, an alarm is triggered and a custom audio/visual warning is automatically projected, so the perpetrator believes he is actually being watched. For example, in parking lot surveillance, cameras are installed and networked to a DVR connected to a monitor to watch different areas.

For crime prevention, a custom sound file (.wav file) can be recorded (“Warning-You are under surveillance”), transported and saved to the hard drive in the DVR. The motion sensor for a specific camera would be set so that when motion is detected, an alarm is triggered which initiates the sound file while a strobe light goes off at the same time. The voice, projected through an amplified speaker, sounds as if someone nearby has seen the intruder and is warning him that he is being watched and recorded. The outcome should be a startled criminal that leaves the scene before the crime is actually committed.

This month, another crime deterrent product is being introduced. Speco Technologies PIR Cameras include a unique PIR sensor along with built-in white IR LEDs. When motion is detected by the built-in PIR sensor, the LEDs will automatically turn on intense bright lights towards the camera viewing area. This will alert the perpetrator that a camera is recording which should chase the criminal away before the event occurs. These tamperproof and weather resistant day/night cameras feature high resolution and an auto iris varifocal lens for clear video capture.