24/7 Car Security Camera Could Help Stop San Francisco Car Break-Ins
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Car owners have a new tool to fight car break-ins.
Logan Blunt is one of San Francisco's many car break-in victims.
"It feels really invasive like someone almost personally targeted you," Blunt said. "It's a very big inconvenience when you're minimum wage in the city."
A thief broke into her car in San Francisco just a few months ago, stealing her backpack and iPad.
But Andy Hodge, the founder and CEO of Owl, may have just the thing to stop car thieves in their tracks.
"We said: could we take those same features you have in a home security system and bring them to the car?" Hodge explains. "Meaning when something happens you have the video, whether you're in the car or you're out."
The Owl cam is a surveillance camera for your vehicle that's powered on 24/7 and connected to your phone. But it does more than just record.
The camera has sensors, so when someone touches the car, the owner will be alerted through their phone right away.
"And that means if your car gets backed up into when you're at lunch, I'm going to get an alert on my phone," Hodge said.
And if someone breaks in, you can even talk through your camera using your phone.
You can then send that video to police right away.
Blunt said she doesn't leave anything in her car anymore, but she still wishes she knew who broke into it.
"I'm an advocate for having something like that record and being able to at least have justice, even if it's in the smallest way," Blunt said.
Hodge said he too has had his car broken into before, so he knows exactly how it feels.
The Owl camera costs about $300. Owl's website states that the camera is also useful for recording crashes, law enforcement stops, and illegal activity, such as people doing donuts on the highway.
