Does True Crime Content Lead to Better Security?

Many Americans are apparently worried about life imitating art that recreates life. A major residential security company recently found in a survey of 1,001 consumers of true crime content that 69 percent think the events they watch or read about could happen to their families, prompting them to take countermeasures such as checking locks and windows at night. The survey also found that some people have installed security equipment after viewing a show like Making a Murderer or listening to a podcast like Serial, with the most popular device choices being video surveillance cameras and doorbell cameras.

“Nearly 45% of people who installed home security features felt scared to be alone at night, and over 43% had dreams or nightmares about true crime,” the report on the survey stated. “More than 1 in 4 people who updated their home security felt scared to be alone in general, and over 1 in 5 felt someone was watching them.”

While it was not addressed in the survey, many people who install cameras are choosing to provide authorities with access to the video when it can help solve crimes, sometimes through partnerships between law enforcement and device manufacturers.

“During an investigation, deputies will ride around a neighborhood looking for anything to assist them and will notice a security camera on a doorbell or elsewhere on the home,” a colonel with a sheriff’s office in North Carolina told a local newspaper. “We politely ask the homeowner if the cameras work and if we can use them, and most will allow us.” In some cases, this evidence is critical, and not just for catching people who steal packages from doorsteps. For example, it was reported that sheriff’s deputies in South Carolina arrested two people and charged them with multiple counts of attempted murder after a home surveillance camera captured them firing dozens of shots at the house in late May.