An insider job

There are 18 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 1,890 times. The latest Post (September 6, 2023 at 11:14 AM) was by UK Man.

    While I was away, someone stole two expensive sport bikes from the building hallway. An urgent meeting was called by the building supervisor. After three hours of discussion, it was decided to install security cameras at the building entrances.

    The store on the ground floor has their own cameras and filmed the thief who was waving goodbye to someone who opened the door for him. So, it was an insider job.

    There are 10 units, and 3 are short term rentals, so the likely accomplish was a random temp tenant. But who?

    As an extra layer of protection (and after six years in the making), it was finally approved to install a RFID key to access the building. It will register who opens the door and time stamp. This way, we know who will open to thieves.

    Ironically (but not for the theft victims), the bike owners even crossed the insider in the hallway while they were coming back from their shopping (the shop’s camera caught also them walking back with their bags).

    Now we will have to be careful whom we let into the building, as we may be accused of easing in thieves. Another act of courtesy that looks upside down in Argentina.

    Unless we already know them, we never, ever hold the front door open to let somebody in. If they are honest folk they will understand why. If they are dishonest it sends the message that the building is protected.

    Security cameras are good to have for obvious reasons and some not so obvious. The missus and I were sitting in the kitchen this morning when the door bell rang. The front door is quite a distance away from the kitchen so as the wife wasn't expecting anyone she checked the camera app on her phone to see who it was. There was an ABSA lorry parked outside with three blokes. One had got out and was standing at our door.....the missus said he looked dodgy. He hung about for quite a while then when he realised noone was going to open to him he got back in the lorry and drove off.

    They didn't go to any of our neighbours so it wasn't as if it was to warn us the water was going to be cut off.

    Our bldg has the same kind of door as yours, serafina : someone inside has to let guests out, not just let them in. It always seems weird to me, but I guess it’s a kind of deterrent as long as there’s no accomplice on the inside. We also have RFID keys.

    What a creepy feeling that you know who in the building was in on the bike heist! Has anyone confronted the temp renters?

    Unfortunately the footage was made available only at the urgent building meeting, afaik, which took a few weeks to plan. We actually already have security cameras already installed (by one owner, at his own expense, pre-pandemic, but it lost settings during a power outage during the pandemic and it was never reconfigured).

    It seems that the insider cut the bikes’ locks for the thief, let him in to take the bikes, and waved goodbye.

    As we don’t have solid proof about which tenant arranged the theft, it is hard to pinpoint a unit and ask the landlord to be accountable for this.

    The cameras were installed after another episode with a temp tenant. I can’t recall if it was after a drunk tenant broke the elevator mirror or after someone dumped a solid 💩 in the hallway.

    I remember the RFID key in your building, Rice , and I also remember that they have been discussed at building meetings since we moved in six years ago. We were and are huge supporters of the RFID keys because they allow to enter the building quicker than fiddling with the classic key. However, the other owners never seemed too interested.

    I have also asked on several occasions to install a video doorbell, which was always dismissed because the current doorbell works and it is yet another expense. If it was for me, I would have installed all modern trickeries available to man, but unfortunately my neighbors and I don’t see eye to eye on this.

    There are 2-3 long term tenants and the consensus is that it wasn’t them, so we are left with the temp ones. This means that only 4 units in the building have their owners living in. The others who rent out their units aren’t interested in spending money on the building since they don’t directly benefit from the upgrades.

    Quote from serafina

    This means that only 4 units in the building have their owners living in. The others who rent out their units aren’t interested in spending money on the building since they don’t directly benefit from the upgrades.

    That's a common problem with rented out accomodation. It happens here as well. You can walk down a block of lovely well maintained houses and in amongst them all is a house falling to bits. It's either being rented out or lying empty due to it having severl owners who can't get the deeds sorted out.

    Quote from UK Man

    Security cameras are good to have for obvious reasons and some not so obvious. The missus and I were sitting in the kitchen this morning when the door bell rang. The front door is quite a distance away from the kitchen so as the wife wasn't expecting anyone she checked the camera app on her phone to see who it was. There was an ABSA lorry parked outside with three blokes. One had got out and was standing at our door.....the missus said he looked dodgy. He hung about for quite a while then when he realised noone was going to open to him he got back in the lorry and drove off.

    They didn't go to any of our neighbours so it wasn't as if it was to warn us the water was going to be cut off.

    Do your cameras record 24/7 or just to see what's going on in any given moment?

    Quote from Splinter

    Do your cameras record 24/7 or just to see what's going on in any given moment?

    Yes they record however the countryside ones are different from those we have in our house and at the MIL's when it comes to viewing the playback on the phone App. If you want to go back more than one hour you have to view it on the telly it's connected to. I've no idea why that is.

    Quote from UK Man

    Yes they record however the countryside ones are different from those we have in our house and at the MIL's when it comes to viewing the playback on the phone App. If you want to go back more than one hour you have to view it on the telly it's connected to. I've no idea why that is.

    Where does it record to and for how long?

    I'm just curious because it must take up a fair bit of disk space.

    Quote from Splinter

    Where does it record to and for how long?

    I'm just curious because it must take up a fair bit of disk space.

    As far as I know it stores it in the box you connect to your wifi and TV. I'm currently watching playback of the countryside ones from the 26th August. Confirmed as I've just seen Nazarena's bum and that was the last time she came with us!!

    Our new unit has a RFID key. However, I don't know if it does record who enters and exit the building.

    The new one should allow to know which key was used and when.

    The existing cameras are CCTV on a server (I was told) and store the footage for one week. After which it is overwritten/deleted. Only who installed them has access to the footage. In the end, a waste of money (for him) since the cameras were installed AFTER an incident and stopped working BEFORE the next.

    Quote from Splinter

    Share or it didn't happen!

    :yay:

     

    ^^

    So just been messing with the App on my phone. Seems the playback on the countryside cameras as well as our house both playback well over a week at least. It's just the MIL's cameras that can only be playback viewed for one hour on the phone. If you want to view more than that you have to watch it through the telly its connected to. So that's something worth taking into consideration as the phone App is very much handier to use.

    Quote from serafina

    Only who installed them has access to the footage.

    I imagine that's because it's shared by more than one owner.

    Edited once, last by UK Man: Merged a post created by UK Man into this post. (September 5, 2023 at 10:07 AM).

    Quote from Rice

    And there is always what we now call “manual override,” as performed by the New Orleans vandal who simply removed the RFID reader from our doorway.

    This is concerning. In our STR building there is a double entrance: first a gate with a RFID only (there is no mechanical lock to use a key in case the RFID doesn't work - duh?) and then a glass door with a traditional mechanical key.

    The apartment door seems a piece of cardboard from an art class. You can even seen the light on the other side. It always amazes me how thin doors are here.

    Quote from UK Man

    There was an ABSA lorry parked outside with three blokes. One had got out and was standing at our door.....the missus said he looked dodgy. He hung about for quite a while then when he realised noone was going to open to him he got back in the lorry and drove off.

    They didn't go to any of our neighbours so it wasn't as if it was to warn us the water was going to be cut off.

    ABSA came calling again this mrning so the missus asked them what they were wanting. Turned out they were genuine and told her they were here in response to the complaint she'd made about water in the street. Every week water rushes down from further up the road and stays for days in the gutter. She told them she hadn't made any complaint. The bloke said someone must have used our number when telling them.....bloody cheek of them!!

    I think the water comes from the next block. Either the lavadero or the bakers round the corner. Not their fault the drainage system on the road gutters is practically non existent. Hence why the roads get flooded every time there's a downpour!!

    Quote from UK Man

    ABSA came calling again this mrning so the missus asked them what they were wanting. Turned out they were genuine and told her they were here in response to the complaint she'd made about water in the street. Every week water rushes down from further up the road and stays for days in the gutter. She told them she hadn't made any complaint. The bloke said someone must have used our number when telling them.....bloody cheek of them!!

    I think the water comes from the next block. Either the lavadero or the bakers round the corner. Not their fault the drainage system on the road gutters is practically non existent. Hence why the roads get flooded every time there's a downpour!!

    Did they sort it?