HOUSTON – Security cameras help authorities capture criminals in the act and more businesses are installing the technology.
Commonly found on homes and shopping plazas, now more of the surveillance devices can be spotted at construction sites.
"You'll have three or four guys go into a location where there are five or six buildings and the monitoring center can direct them," said Luke Feild of Cameras Onsite said. "They can tell police they went to the south building or the third structure. It shortens the police officers' time and where to look."
Some cameras, including the ones from Cameras Onsite, have technology that triggers them to direct employees to monitor them when there is any type of motion.
The dispatcher is then able to pick up the phone and call police.
These cameras have helped capture several suspects in the act of stealing construction equipment and even using vacant buildings for a location for sexual activity.
"You can clearly see the cameras caught the intruder going in and then the police respond immediately. It's within minutes. Some of these sites the officers are there within 2 or 3 minutes," said Feild.
Field showed Channel 2 another example of a group of crooks walking onto a construction inside the 610 Loop but they didn't get far because police and K9 showed up within minutes.
"The cameras will spot you. It will figure out what is going on. At that moment it goes straight to the monitoring center and pops up on the monitor screen as to what triggered you and has a live feed showing what is currently taking place," he said."