Do security cameras prevent break-ins? They deter some intruders and record the rest, but they do not physically prevent a forced entry. A camera captures the break-in; it does not stop it. Prevention comes from the physical things that slow or block entry: reinforced doors, a properly seated deadbolt, lighting, and clear sightlines.
Toronto Police recorded 6,092 break-ins in 2025. Cameras caught many of them on video and stopped none of them. Home Security Consultants is an independent home security audit service in Toronto and the GTA, founded by former Toronto Police Auxiliary Sergeant Julian Herzberg. We sell no cameras, so here is the honest version.
What a camera does well
A visible camera deters the opportunist who is choosing between your house and an easier one. It can identify a person after the fact, give you remote eyes on the property, and capture evidence. As a deterrent against casual attempts, a camera at the front door earns its place.
It is worth being specific about which of those are real, because they are not equal.
Deterrence against casual attempts is genuine. Someone walking a street looking for an easy target will usually pass a house that visibly presents more effort and more risk than the one next to it.
Remote awareness is genuine and often undersold. Knowing a parcel arrived, seeing who is at the door before opening it, and checking on the house while away are ordinary daily benefits that have nothing to do with break-ins.
Evidence is real but narrower than people assume, and it is worth understanding why before buying a system for that reason alone.
The evidence problem
Footage is only useful if it identifies someone, and most residential footage does not.
The common failures are mundane. The camera is mounted high and angled down, so it records the top of a head and a hood. It is positioned to cover an area rather than a chokepoint, so the subject is thirty feet away and eight pixels across. It faces the street, so at night the headlights behind the subject leave a silhouette. Or the resolution is fine but the footage was overwritten after seven days and the break-in was noticed on day nine, after a holiday.
A camera at head height covering the point where someone must stand still, such as a door they are working on, produces identification. A camera under a soffit surveying the whole driveway produces a figure in dark clothing.
This is one of the most common findings in an audit, and it costs nothing to fix. The equipment is already bought and mounted. It is pointed at the wrong thing.
Do security cameras prevent break-ins, or just record them?
A camera does not stop a determined person from entering. It records the entry.
The notification arrives after someone is already at the door, and police response, even when fast, takes minutes that a forced entry does not need. A door that fails to a kick fails in about the time it takes to read this sentence.
A determined intruder also adapts. A hood, a side approach out of the camera’s angle, or simply not caring about footage defeats the deterrent. Someone who has decided your house is worth entering is not dissuaded by being recorded doing it.
There is a further problem specific to how cameras get installed. Cameras covering the driveway but not the actual entry points are one of the most common things an audit finds. The camera goes where it is easy to mount and where the wiring runs, which is usually the front of the house. The side door, the rear door and the door from the garage, which are the entrances someone would actually choose, are often covered by nothing.
The false sense of security
The real risk of a camera-first approach is not that the camera fails. It is that it feels like the problem has been solved.
A homeowner who has installed cameras has taken an action, spent money, and can see their property on a phone. That is a satisfying sequence, and it very reasonably feels like security. The unreinforced strike plate on the side door has not changed, but it no longer feels urgent.
This is the pattern worth naming, because it is common and it is expensive. The money goes to the visible layer, the invisible layer stays as it was, and the house is no harder to enter than it was before. The footage is better. The door is the same.
Where cameras fit in a real plan
Cameras work best as one layer, not the whole plan.
They pair with the things that actually slow or stop entry: a reinforced door frame, a deadbolt that seats properly, good lighting, and clear sightlines. The camera handles deterrence and evidence; the physical fixes handle prevention.
A useful way to think about it is order of operations. Physical resistance first, because it is what actually buys time. Lighting and sightlines next, because they remove the cover an intruder needs to work unseen and they improve what any camera can record. Cameras after that, placed at the points where someone has to stop and commit.
Done in that order, each layer improves the one before it. Done in reverse, which is how it usually happens, you get excellent footage of a door that opens in four seconds.
A plan that is all cameras and no reinforcement protects the footage of your break-in, not your home, which is the same reason an alarm alone often falls short.
What about video doorbells
A video doorbell is the most common camera in Canadian homes and deserves its own answer.
It does the front door well. It records people who approach it, it deters the casual attempt, and the remote awareness is the part most owners actually use daily.
What it does not do is cover anything else. The side door, the rear door, the garage entrance and ground-floor windows are outside its view entirely, and those are the entrances a person choosing a way in would prefer, precisely because the front door is the one being watched.
A video doorbell as the only camera on a property is not a security system. It is good coverage of the least likely entry point.
What a seller will not tell you, and an audit will
A company that sells cameras has one recommendation: more cameras.
An independent audit assesses the cameras you already own for coverage and placement, not brand, and is just as likely to tell you to move one you have as to add anything. It then points you at the physical weak points no camera addresses, which are the things that actually prevent entry.
The question an audit answers is the one a camera seller never asks: do you even need more cameras, or are you spending on the wrong layer? Often the answer is that the existing cameras are fine and pointed badly, and that the money would do more on a door.
You can see what an audit costs before booking, or what an audit covers in detail. We assess homes across the GTA, including Vaughan and Richmond Hill.
Frequently asked questions
Do security cameras prevent break-ins?
They deter some attempts and record the rest, but they do not physically stop a determined intruder. Prevention comes from reinforced doors, proper locks, lighting and sightlines. The camera is one layer, not the answer.
Are video doorbells enough on their own?
No. A video doorbell covers the front door for deterrence and evidence, but it does nothing for the side door, the garage door, or ground-floor windows, and it does not stop entry.
Should I buy cameras or get an audit first?
An audit first. It tells you whether cameras are your real gap or whether the money is better spent reinforcing entry points you already have, and sometimes the answer is to buy nothing.
Do dummy cameras work?
Against a casual opportunist, sometimes. Against anyone who looks closely, no, and they provide no evidence when something happens. If a visible deterrent is the goal, a real camera at the same mounting point does the same job and also records.
How long should I keep footage?
Long enough to cover a period away from home. Many systems default to about a week, which is shorter than a holiday. This is a setting rather than a purchase, and it is worth checking today.
Book an independent audit
Cameras have a place, but they record break-ins more than they prevent them. An audit tells you what actually stops entry at your home, and whether you need more cameras at all.
To book in Toronto or the GTA, call 647-614-7682 or use the contact page.
About the author: Julian Herzberg is the founder of Home Security Consultants. Before coming to Canada he spent 14 years in police and military service in South Africa, then served as a Sergeant in the Toronto Police Service Auxiliary Program, conducting residential security assessments across the GTA. Home Security Consultants sells no products and installs no equipment. The audit is the service, and the written report is what you take away.