Will a laser pointer blind out a security camera? Creepy neighbor!

We've got a creepy meth head neighbor that has put up a camera up on a 30ft - 40ft pole. The major problem with this is that it is just high enough to be above the peaks of the buildings on his property and aims DIRECTLY at our kitchen window and the bedroom window of our 15 and 11 year old girls. We are not okay with this.

I have spoken to the neighbor but he gave me a general meth head response and claims it is only used to look at his yard directly below the camera. The camera can rotate horizontally and vertically via remote and it is pointing directly at our house at times. I told him we were uncomfortable with it and asked that he remove it or change the positioning so that it would not aim at our house. His major concern is that people are supposedly hopping his fence and stealing from his junk pile, but the camera has its back to the fence that he claims is getting jumped over and is facing the inner portion of his property and our home.

My girlfriend has also called the police to make a report and to see if there was anything can they do. We were told there is nothing we can do besides keep the blinds closed and request that he move it.

He has not moved it, other than to occasionally rotate it away from our house but the vast majority of the time it is facing directly at our windows.

WHAT NOW:
I've come up with several options and I think the best approach at this point is an attempt to use a laser point to blind it out so that it serves him no purpose while pointing in our direction. I was thinking a laser of some type on a tripod or mounting device pointed directly at the lens would flood it with light and blind it while it aims towards our windows. If he moves it or faces another direction, no problem. Turns back to our window.... blinded. Seems like a non destructive but potentially effective solution. If it would work that way. Since the camera is mounted to a pole I figure it should be pretty easy to get it lined up properly. I've considered pellet guns and paintball guns but the likelihood of me hitting this camera from where I'm at seems very low and risky, not to mention the fact that at that point it would be permanently destructive. I don't particularly see the need to destroy the camera if I can find a better means of dealing with the situation. I'd like to try the softer approaches first, if possible.

Does anyone know if this theory has the potential for success? If so, I would need some advice on what to purchase and possibly how to mount it... I have absolutely zero experience in this area other than an occasional key chain laser pointer used to distract a cat.

Thanks for any info you can guys provide, sorry it got so long.

I think if it's causing you no harm, then leave it alone. If it really is bothering you, then asking him won't help, can you close your blinds like the police said?

The laser would probably temporarily blind it but would be impractical because it's such a small dot and I don't think it would do much good.

If your goal is to damage it then paint balls would do the job but I wouldn't do that if I were you. Even a baseball could hurt it if you tried enough.

I can close my blinds to a certain point. The problem is that the children's blinds would have to be closed at all times unless I was okay with having a neighbor point a camera in their window. Our homes are very close together and we live in California... we are walking distance from the beach. Our home is much taller than theirs and that is why the camera on the very tall pole looks into our kitchen and bedrooms... I would HATE to have to have the kids lose the ability to look out of their window and watch the sunset or lose the view. We also would have to keep the kitchen blinds all the way down unless we wanted to see and feel the camera pointed directly at us anytime we are near the sink. Again, we would lose that view and the ability there as well.

The harm it causes is that it is disturbing and discomforting to look out of your window and see a camera on a large pole staring right at you... I'm trying to keep everything as civil as possible and not look at things in a nefarious way, but the camera does point directly at the window of two very young girls the majority of the day. It is very disturbing for us.

I realize the laser would have a small dot, but if it was pointed at the lens wouldn't it flood out the light in the camera and basically leave the monitor saturated?

Yes it would flood the camera but if the camera moves a bit you would have to have a system that tracks it.

May I ask, can the camera see much into your house?

A spying camera does sound disturbing, but I'm really wondering if the owner even cares about looking at your house. He's probably not interested unless he's crazy or something. Because you did say he does meth or something. :wtf::drool:
I'd say a focused spot light would do the trick, but I don't know your budget.

Oh, and most lasers couldn't be on all the time, unless it was a very low power one, I think. Anyone plz correct me if I'm wrong.:yh:

You might try a high power IR LED. If it was focused to a tight flashlight-like beam it would blind the camera (most inexpensive solid state cameras lack IR filters) almost as effectively as a laser but with the broader beam spread it would work over a wider angle of incidence to the camera lens. LEDs run 24x7 with no problems when properly heat sinked.

That is a very tough situation indeed. They could be creeping on your family or they could just be watching their property. It is difficult if not impossible to tell for certain. Can you tint your windows by any chance? If you take out the camera with a .22 cal rifle or a high power laser such as a lab laser than you become the aggressor/criminal. I really don't know what to tell you. I wish you luck with this situation.

you absolutely need to take this up with the law. if it concerns you enough, talk to a lawyer about what can be done. i dont know if it really is illegal, but i think you could easily make a case for this, and get him to take it down, or relocate it into a different place.

as for destroying it, if you feel the need i would get a high powered laser (maybe from an LPF member nearby, instead of buying one since you don't need it) and destroying the camera with it when he isnt home, because in my experience high power lasers can easily ruin a camera. but only destroy it if you need to, otherwise, i would go for a legal solution.

also, if you want to stay with LPF becuase lasers also interest you, please post a welcome thread and list your general location in your profile description.

That's creepy. You can't have a drug addict watching your little kids. I'd be very aggressive with this man. What if your kids end up on the internet for ****ography videos??

This is discussed before.

Edit: To blind the camera, you will need a high power laser. Depending on where you stay, it might be illegal. So whatever you do never use a laser on it, you might get charged

Maybe show the police some pictures of the camera pointed at your property and see if they can't do something about violation of privacy.

If nothing else works, I'd say laser It's simple enough to tape the button on a cheap ebay pointer and stick it on a tripod. Doesn't really matter what wavelength but IR or 405nm will be hard to aim because they're not very bright.

At low powers, there's no limit to the length of use. But the batteries might be a concern, so you might get someone to build you one that takes an 18650 battery. Then buy 2 and a charger, and you're set. PM me if you decide to go that route and want help.

Picture of those cam please?

A high power blue laser would probably destroy it, so it won't just temporarily blind it. Although, if you had a large enough output beam expander on a laser and pointed it at the camera, it probably would have a wide enough beam to blind the camera whenever it was pointed towards your house or even in that direction and wouldn't destroy the camera. Much depends upon what power level you are using whether damage would occur, a 25mw green laser with a beam expander on it ought to keep it from seeing in your direction and likely won't harm the camera, even a defocused laser could work, just defocus it enough so the beam covers the entire camera and then you don't need a beam expander, he can swing in your direction but won't see much but a bright over powering glaring spot. Likely, he would get miffed at you and end up with more problems than it might be worth. Perhaps a 808nm IR laser pointer would be better to use, if you can't see the light hitting the camera it probably won't miff him as much yet do the job, IR filter or not, if powerful enough, using the same defocused trick so the spot is just big enough to cover the entire camera. You can probably find a powerful enough IR spot beam on ebay which would work well too.

Something like this might work, depends upon how far away the camera is, if his camera is made for IR it will be sensitive to this unit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pulsar-L-80...vision-scopes-with-weaver-mount-/171823262145

Although you would want to wire a AC to DC 3 volt power supply to it instead of using batteries, I am sure. I agree with the previous poster, a photograph of the offending camera might help us identify it to know more about it.

In England where I live that would be seen as a gross intrusion of privacy and, if reported, the police would take action, at least to check the owner out to see if his intentions were above board, and to warn him of the consequences of spying on people, ESPECIALLY with kids around. The way you describe the guy he sounds an unsavory character anyway, so I'd really question his TRUE motives for using the camera, and think you have every right to be suspicious. Can't really offer any advice as to a solution other than to try the various things others have said...its a difficult one, hope it works out.

WizardG said:

You might try a high power IR LED. If it was focused to a tight flashlight-like beam it would blind the camera (most inexpensive solid state cameras lack IR filters) almost as effectively as a laser but with the broader beam spread it would work over a wider angle of incidence to the camera lens. LEDs run 24x7 with no problems when properly heat sinked.

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This. But you can get IR illuminators from CCTV sellers or ePay. Those will be in a complete waterproof housing with mounts and power supply. Just mount them just outside the window of your kids' room and point it at the cam. The IR light flood will saturate the cam and he won't see a thing in the room.

High powered IR LEDs would work perfectly. They may even cause cancer to your neighbour.

Or you can get extra annoying and buy a halogen lamp (something like that) and point it to his bedroom. He will be more likely to be convinced to remove the security camera.

ulvi said:

High powered IR LEDs would work perfectly. They may even cause cancer to your neighbour.

Or you can get extra annoying and buy a halogen lamp (something like that) and point it to his bedroom. He will be more likely to be convinced to remove the security camera.

Click to expand...

Did I miss something? Since when did IR LEDs cause cancer?