Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah - I think it still a bit of a deterrent ... today, not everyone has a camera, and if I were a thief and one house had cameras while the place next door did not, guess which one I'm gonna rob? But I wonder how much of that will wear off once everybody has one.
if I were a thief and one house had cameras while the place next door did not, guess which one I'm gonna rob? But we're talking about doorbell cameras here, not giant boxes in the sky with flashing strobe lights on them. A thief doesn't know if there's a doorbell camera on a particular home until they're already on the porch and recorded.
When a thief wants to steal something, they usually stop trying to steal that thing once they become aware they are being monitored. Even if they only realized once they reached the porch.
It's not a guarantee, but it's something. And it provides a trail to follow if something is stolen (or worse).