Incident Guides / Dealership theft

Car Dealership Cameras for Overnight Theft

Dealership theft investigations need to connect three things: how someone entered the property, what happened around the targeted vehicle, and how the suspect or vehicle exited.

Best evidence chain: perimeter/entry → inventory-row context → vehicle interaction → exit/plate lane.

Do not rely only on panoramic lot views

Wide cameras are valuable for movement and timeline context but can spread pixels too thin for faces or plates. Add tighter choke-point views at the vehicle entry/exit and around high-value inventory zones.

Night lighting changes everything

Headlights, polished vehicles, dark rows and mixed dealership lighting can make daytime commissioning misleading. Test the critical views after dark and verify motion blur, exposure and reflective surfaces.

Retention should fit discovery delay

Damage or missing parts may not be noticed until the next shift or later. Storage should cover the realistic investigation window, not just a few days of footage.