Neighbor has cameras directly facing our door and our next door neighbors door

LauraLoo

LauraLoo

New Member
We got a mentally ill neighbor. He harassed my next door neighbor and has cameras facing our front deck (Front door) and their front door. He is ordering more for the neighbor on the side. He has a pretty long rap sheet, we're all worried. Does anyone know of any privacy material I can hang from our deck so he at least can't see on our deck anymore? Luckily we are moving so it won't be long term.
 

Any sort of blind hung from side of your deck would block view from his side?

Not sure if you can do anything about cameras facing your front door - if front door opens to the street I think it would be considered public viewing.
 
LauraLoo said:
We got a mentally ill neighbor. He harassed my next door neighbor and has cameras facing our front deck (Front door) and their front door. He is ordering more for the neighbor on the side. He has a pretty long rap sheet, we're all worried. Does anyone know of any privacy material I can hang from our deck so he at least can't see on our deck anymore? Luckily we are moving so it won't be long term.
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Go to the internet to find the privacy laws in your state. Also go to see if No Trespassing signs also cover audio and video cameras.
 

I don't care what he sees we're doing, hence why we don't bother putting curtains on our French doors. Yet camera's facing your front door is a whole different concept. Just wondered if anyone knew of any material that would de-flect a camera. I don't want to hang sheets, that would make the house look odd. Probably make us look like oddities too. I guess we'll put up with it for the next 3 months.
 
I think I would try to find some things in the garage that look like a camera and hang them all facing his house. I would borrow the grandon's telescope and put it on the porch pointing that way. To further make him understand I would a put a pair of binoculars by the front door. Grab them and hang them around your neck every time you step out of the house.

I bet he will call the cops the first couple of days. Just explain he put cameras up first and you wanted him to understand it makes people uncomfortable to have things pointed at your doors and windows. Outdoor cameras are used to focus on his own front door, his driveway, his garden shed, his gates. They are not to be used to be a voyeur into other peoples homes. That is called a peeping Tom, a stalker and it is against the law.
 
HermitHogan said:
I don't trust my neighbors across the street, so I installed a surveillance camera and pointed it directly at their front door, just to let them know that if they do anything weird, I have video.
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If they are going to something weird I doubt it would be at the front door. If there is lots of traffic coming and going quickly at all hours it may be drug selling. If that is the case, you should advise the police and leave it to them to do the monitoring and investigation. Your action could result in a dangerous situation to you and your property.
 
Laura, I'm sorry you have to deal with this whack job, neighbor. He's definitely off his nut. Fortunately, you'll be moving soon. In the meantime, I'd take Olivia's suggestion and look into privacy laws and the use of surveillance cameras in your state. Depending on where you live, it might be perfectly legal for him to have a camera pointing anywhere, including directly at your front and back doors and windows, as long as it's on his property. If that's the case, calling law enforcement will do no good because they can't do anything about it.

For some privacy, you can look into hanging porch screens or curtains, but if you don't want to hang screens or curtains on your porch, you might want to look into self-adhesive one-way reflective film that you can cut to size and apply to the inside of your windows. It's relatively inexpensive, and you can find rolls of it at Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe's.

One Way Window Film Non-adhesivedaytime Privacy Reflective | Etsy


Roller curtains
Porch Roller Curtains | Porch curtains, Patio curtains, Outdoor shades ...


There are a lot of ideas for porch privacy screens in the link below. Some can be pretty pricey, so you'll want to consider how much you want to invest considering you'll be moving in a few months.

porch and deck privacy screens curtains at DuckDuckGo

Hang in there, Laura. 🤗
 
Since he has a long rap sheet he's probably scoping all the houses out to see when the best times are to break in and rob them.
I would definitely report his actions to police, and let them figure out what the laws are, while you also check them on your own.
Putting up your own security cameras can help you to protect your own property. Then you can take them with you when you move.
 
Fly a drone over his property. No. Wait. that will give him the idea to fly it over your property.

Sadly, all you may be able to do is ignore the cameras and the neighbor. A friend of mine had a crack house down the street from him for over a year. Calls the the police produced no results as there was no evidence of a crime. Then, one day, they got nailed on some health violation, the property was legally entered by police and they found the evidence.
 
LauraLoo said:
We got a mentally ill neighbor. He harassed my next door neighbor and has cameras facing our front deck (Front door) and their front door. He is ordering more for the neighbor on the side. He has a pretty long rap sheet, we're all worried. Does anyone know of any privacy material I can hang from our deck so he at least can't see on our deck anymore? Luckily we are moving so it won't be long term.
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Just curious- how do you know that the neighbor is mentally ill, and has a rap sheet? Many people have security cameras around their house, the Ring Doorbell cameras are usually mounted by the front door, and point outward, which would capture the scene on the street, and any houses across the street.
 
I live in a complex of dozens of older 2 story 4-plexes. Many have cameras like Ring on their doors. Not to watch neighbors but rather thieves regularly breaking into our cars and porch pirates. Never read anyone complaining on Nextdoor. Many SF Bay Area cities have also installed ALPR cameras at many key intersections and freeway entrance/exits despite protests by liberterians and the ACLU that had blocked such for years. Although such does affect our freedoms, in this era these are pragmatic solutions.

Your case of animosities between neighbors is a bit different.
 
I bought a security camera because every time I go outside, there's something on my property that tells me that the neighbors are on my property when I'm not there to see it. I'll need proof to accuse anyone, although it's pretty clear who the main culprits are.

It's really hard to place a camera anywhere on the house that only shows the house because it's facing outward. The only vantage point that only shows my property is from the street, and I can't mount a camera in the street.
I really don't care what my neighbors do on their own property, but to protect mine, I have to record, inadvertently, directing toward their house.

I've been hesitating on putting it up because I have concerns about how the neighbors will balk since they're the ones that are doing the activity they shouldn't be doing.
 
You didn't mention you having a camera for viewing activity that can take place at your front door/deck.

Your neighbors camera pointed at your front door/deck could record something that would benefit you. While waiting to move in 3 months the suggestion to check with local law enforcement seems to me to be the best advice.
 
LauraLoo said:
We got a mentally ill neighbor. He harassed my next door neighbor and has cameras facing our front deck (Front door) and their front door. He is ordering more for the neighbor on the side. He has a pretty long rap sheet, we're all worried. Does anyone know of any privacy material I can hang from our deck so he at least can't see on our deck anymore? Luckily we are moving so it won't be long term.
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We don’t have a burglary problem around here, but at one time I had a fake camera over my front door and some neighbors have cameras built into their door bell, a camera that can relay pictures to their cell phone when they are not home. Can you be sure that a neighbor camera is really aimed at you?
 
I don't have any cameras, just a basic alarm system with motion and door sensors , and a loud siren, which is the deterrence. Cameras do not help deter a bugler from completing a breaking/entering burglary attempt. All the crooks wear hoodies and face masks, so even if you do get a good image to share with the police, identifying them may not be possible. Even so, your belongings are long gone anyway, good luck with suing and collecting from the crook.
 

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