greetings, and going into a high danger zone :P

[twice_shy 0]

Hello, i'm new to this forum and this is my first post.

 

In brief I am looking at potentially looking at moving within range of very high crime oilfield areas in the western north dakota/eastern montana region, many of which have serious gang problems including threats of physical violence so that's triggering my initial interest in security. Someone I know was a police chief who was literally run out of town by drug gangs in less than a year with his car vandalized with death threats at night in a row of several police owned houses with their squad cars parked outside and every spring theyre fishing bodies out of the lake that got 'dumped' over the winter so some of the crap happening in these areas is downright stupid, but I am not able to turn down the money offered in this kind of economy when i'm already in debt with a balloon loan on the house and growing medical bills of the lady in my life. I do not want to get too specific with exact locations and details because i'm sure bad guys can search forums for things like this also and put two and two together. Like there are alot of problems with gang guys who happen to like a number between twelve and fourteen but since this is a public forum i'd rather not be more specific than that. It's not quite going into Iraq, but it's pretty bad there.

 

I am looking to embark on a fairly serious and rapid self education plan about all things security - cameras are one part of it but it's more than just that (so if people have suggestions of what other sources I should be looking into as well i'm all ears, I just started here not sure where else to start - the FAQ implied I can't talk about other discussion boards for instance and i'm not trying to but if someone offers a suggestion for topics totally not covered here in private that's obviously fine) because some of the situations are potentially life threatening to be able to identify who is creeping around your property at night. There aren't even security companies out there that I could have do things even if I wanted to - this will have to be DIY even if budget is less of a concern later in the process.

 

I'm going to be having a couple of possible goals. Boosting security and adding cameras/presence simulation to the house i'm in now (which I wont be living in for awhile and don't want it robbed while i'm away), setting up a highly scalable (money will be tight at the beginning but if I can hang in long enough I can afford anything later) system for myself wherever I end up out there, and trying to possibly set up some 'budget' systems just because I have police friends out there who are getting paid a fraction of the oil company guys while paying skyrocketing living costs and aren't really in a position to drop thousands of dollars on a system either. Hell I might just give them a few systems if I can put one together cheap enough - when I see multiple used USB webcams for $4 in thrift stores combined with used computers from craigslist for a song I start wondering what I could throw together to just give somebody for a $300-500 budget or so - and i'd like to see some of the people doing crap late at night identified so they can be properly arrested and charged - benefits everybody.

 

 

Anyway because of some of the things i've already either witnessed during visits out there or the way i've seen people out there targeted and stalked i'd like to not get into too many personal details. I'd prefer to focus on just the nitty gritty of designing up effective systems, thanks. Especially if I start making up and giving to police self contained systems that actually provide evidence to catch certain guys the groups they are known for being incredibly vindictive against anyone who had a part in the process.