Yes, on balance — but be honest with yourself about what a camera actually does. A camera raises the risk of identification, and that's enough to push opportunists and nervous amateurs toward an easier target. It also means that if the worst happens, you may have footage: a face, a plate, a van, a timestamp. Police can work with that.
What a camera does not do is physically stop anyone. Professional crews wear masks, work in hoods, and can have a bike in a van in under a minute — plenty of bikes are stolen on camera every night. Some cameras are dummies, some aren't recording, and some footage is too grainy to matter.
So use cameras as one layer, intelligently:
- Park in the camera's actual field of view, close enough for useful detail — not just "somewhere near the camera."
- Prefer cameras attached to staffed places (stores, lobbies, parking offices) where footage gets pulled quickly.
- Combine with light and foot traffic — a camera in a deserted structure is just a witness.
Then lock the bike as if the camera weren't there: chain or disc lock, cover, and a hidden GPS tracker. The camera might identify the thief after the fact — the tracker tells you where your bike is right now.
No comments yet. Be the first rider to weigh in.