MIAMI TWP., Ohio — When Phyllis Smith’s Miami Township home was robbed, she and her family lost over $600 — she returned home that discover someone had broken in through the kitchen window of her home, stolen money from her room and her children’s piggy banks and left the house in disarray.
“It looked like a hurricane hit it,” she said of the scene. “There was just stuff all over the place."
Smith and her family were out of the house when the crime occurred; no one had seen the burglar.
However, Smith had a secret weapon: a home security system that captured video footage of her home from multiple angles as the crime occurred. This system recorded a man approaching her home, walking around the back and breaking the window to enter.
It was this footage that helped police arrest Michael Hamilton, 32, who now stands charged with the burglary.
“I didn’t know if we were going to get him or not,” she said. “But then we saw him walk up to the porch."
As they become more common, home video security systems are helping Tri-State police solve more cases than ever before, according to Mike Robison of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
“We’re seeing more cameras around businesses, we see more cameras around residences, we see public cameras around telephone poles and on building sides,” he said. “We’re going to use any and all resources to solve a crime and bring those individuals that are responsibly to justice.”
Smith said that after what happened to her, neighbors are looking into purchasing a similar security system for their own homes.
