Residential Camera System

The Challenge

A homeowner on a 5-acre rural property outside Sapulpa, Oklahoma was dealing with a recurring trespassing problem. The property sits at the end of a long gravel driveway, bordered by open fields on two sides and a tree line at the back. Over the course of several months, the homeowner had found tire tracks on the back portion of the property, a gate left open that they hadn’t touched, and tools missing from an unlocked outbuilding. Without any camera coverage, there was no way to identify who was coming onto the property or when.

The homeowner had tried a trail camera from a sporting goods store, but it captured grainy stills with a 30-second delay — by the time it triggered, whatever had been there was gone. They needed a real surveillance system with continuous recording, night vision capable of reaching across the long driveway and open yard, and the ability to check the cameras from their phone while they were at work in town.

Our Solution

Witness Security designed an 8-camera HD surveillance system purpose-built for a large rural property. The key challenge was coverage distance — most residential cameras are designed for 30-40 foot ranges, but this property needed clear footage at 100+ feet in complete darkness. We selected cameras with extended infrared capability and positioned them to create overlapping coverage zones across the entire property footprint.

• 2 long-range bullet cameras at the driveway entrance — 4MP resolution with 200-foot infrared night vision, positioned to capture both vehicle license plates and driver faces for any vehicle approaching the property
• 2 turret cameras on the house — covering the front yard, front porch, and side yard with 130-foot night vision range and wide-angle lenses
• 2 cameras on the outbuilding — one covering the outbuilding doors and equipment area, one aimed across the back field toward the tree line where the trespassing activity had been concentrated
• 1 camera on the detached garage — covering the garage doors and the area between the house and garage where vehicles park
• 1 camera at the back gate — the gate providing access to the rear portion of the property, capturing anyone approaching on foot or by vehicle
• 16-channel NVR with 8TB storage — continuous recording from all 8 cameras at full resolution, providing 45+ days of footage retention before the oldest footage is overwritten
• Remote viewing app — the homeowner views all 8 cameras live from their phone, with the ability to scrub through recorded footage, export clips, and receive motion-triggered push notifications

We ran direct burial Cat6 cable from the house to the outbuilding and gate locations, trenching along existing fence lines to keep the runs protected and invisible. The entire system is powered by a UPS battery backup that keeps cameras recording for up to 4 hours during a power outage — a common occurrence in rural Oklahoma during storm season.

The Results

Within the first two weeks, the cameras captured footage of an unfamiliar truck pulling onto the back portion of the property at 2:15 AM on a Tuesday. The homeowner received a motion alert, reviewed the footage, and provided the license plate number and a clear image of the driver to the Creek County Sheriff’s Office. The individual was identified as someone known to law enforcement. There have been no trespassing incidents since.

• Full property coverage — every approach to the house, outbuilding, garage, and back gate is recorded 24/7
• Clear night footage at 200 feet — the long-range infrared cameras produce usable identification-quality footage even in total darkness
• 45+ days of continuous recording — more than enough retention for any investigation or insurance claim
• Trespassing identified and resolved — camera footage led directly to identifying the individual responsible
• Storm-resistant installation — UPS backup, direct burial cabling, and weatherproof housings rated for Oklahoma weather extremes

The homeowner said: “I live out here for the peace and quiet, but that doesn’t mean I should be an easy target. Witness Security set up cameras that actually work at the distances I need — I can see my entire property from my phone, day or night. The trespassing stopped the week the cameras went up.”