Pinhole cameras are those cameras with a very small lens opening. It's designed to be a covert camera and can be easily hidden since the exposed part is so small. It might be a small PC board, or it can be a flexible snake camera. Either way, the main part of the camera is hidden inside or behind some inconspicuous object in the room, while the tiny lens looks out into the room. Many of these covert cameras are so well designed for camouflage that a person can look right at the camera's location and never even know it's there. The ones built into electronic devices like DVD players hide the lens behind the display panel. In these even upon close inspection it looks like the IR receiver for the remote control. Check out this website. They offer the most extensive product line I have seen so far.

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The home surveillance systems available today go far beyond the spy
microphone that we played around with as kids. Even the covert camera has gotten much more complex. These days you can connect a video multiplexer to multiple cameras and record them all with a single video cassette recorder or view them in real-time on one monitor. You can cover large areas with many separate rooms and never miss anything. Even the grounds outside the house can be effectively monitored with motion sensors and outdoor cameras. These kinds of systems used to be the stuff of spy movies, but now it's affordable and available to everyone. I'm piecing together my own home surveillance system little by little.

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I came across this article in a Colorado newspaper and found it interesting. What do you think about surveillance video in public spaces? After reading this article I think the pros are too clear to deny.

"Police say the cameras, though controversial, are an effective way not only to deter criminal activity but also to give officers a proactive crime- fighting edge and to aid in investigations.

"It's a tool," Lt. Ernest Martinez said. "It's not that panacea that's going to eradicate crime just by being there."

The 50 cameras, originally purchased with grant money for the Democratic National Convention, will join 13 others that have been tested in Denver over the past three years.

Each High Activity Location Observation camera has a radius of at least a block and can be monitored in real time to spot crime as it occurs. Images will be stored for at least 30 days, longer if they are needed for investigations.

In addition, the city is looking to connect its system to cameras used by Denver Public Schools and the Regional Transportation District, Martinez said.

Systems like Denver's are becoming increasingly popular across the country as police departments strive to reduce and displace crime.

Surveillance cameras in cities such as Baltimore, Chicago and New York have been "quite effective," Martinez said.

In Washington, D.C., which has 73 neighborhood-based wireless cameras, violent crime in 2007 fell 19 percent in areas that were within 250 feet of cameras, according to a report by the Metropolitan Police Department.

The cameras also have captured killings and provided crucial investigative information.

"These cameras do provide us that necessary engagement to enhance our crime-fighting efforts," Martinez said."