When the cameras do not work, the break-in is only half the problem. The other half is the question you cannot answer.

Security takeaway: A camera that is mounted but not working is worse than no camera, because everyone assumes the property is covered. Coverage is not a purchase. It is a system someone checks, watches and answers for.

What We Know: About 23 Cars, No Working Cameras

On the night of Saturday, September 26, 2026, about 23 vehicles were broken into at the Clairmont at Perry Creek apartments in northeast Raleigh, North Carolina, according to WRAL. Raleigh police said there were no working surveillance cameras at the complex. No suspects have been identified.

The damage came to light the next morning. A resident’s daughter found her car’s rear window smashed on Sunday, and the resident said several neighboring cars had been hit as well. The same report places the break-ins in a wider string across the Triangle area: more than 80 vehicles in hotel parking lots two weeks earlier, and 27 vehicles on Little Brier Creek Lane in Raleigh.

The report does not say what was taken, how the thieves entered the lot, or what management has told residents.

What It Means: Three Gaps in One Sentence

“No working surveillance cameras” describes three separate failures, and each one belongs to the property, not the thieves.

Nobody verified the system. A camera can fail quietly. A lens goes dark, a recorder stops, a cable is cut, and nothing announces it. Unless someone checks every camera on a schedule, the first test is the night you need it.

Nobody was watching. Even a working camera records what happened. It does not stop 23 cars from being hit in a night, because nobody is looking at the screen when it matters.

Nothing was left to work with. With no footage and no patrol log, police have no timeline, no vehicle and no description. Residents are left with broken windows and no answer, and the property is left with the reputation.

A pattern that spans several properties, as this one does, tends to favor the lots that nobody is checking.

What You Can Do

1. Test every camera on a schedule and write it down.

Walk the property, confirm each camera has a clear image and a recording, and log the date and the person. A camera nobody tests is an assumption.

2. Set an alert for a camera that goes offline.

A system that tells a person when a camera stops recording turns a silent failure into a same-day repair.

3. Put a person behind the cameras at night.

Break-ins happen after midnight, when no one in the office is watching. Someone has to see the activity and be able to send help.

4. Keep a patrol record you could hand to police.

Time-stamped checks of the lot show when the property was last clear, which narrows the window and supports residents and insurers.

How SPADE Closes the Gap

SPADE pairs security cameras with Video Monitoring, so someone is always behind the lens: AI flags movement in the lot, a human operator verifies it, and dispatch follows while the thieves are still on the property.

Between alerts, mobile patrol and security guards check parking areas on an irregular schedule, with GPS-verified, time-stamped logs. See how we protect commercial and residential properties.

SPADE is veteran-owned, DVBE certified, and directly employs its officers. We do not subcontract.

If police asked for your footage from last night, could you hand it over, and who would have noticed if a camera had stopped?

Schedule a Property Security Assessment

SPADE Security Services | Rocklin, CA | Veteran-owned | DVBE certified
Serving Placer, Sacramento, and El Dorado counties
Licensed by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services
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How many cars were broken into at the Raleigh apartment complex?

Raleigh police said about 23 vehicles were broken into at the Clairmont at Perry Creek apartments on the night of September 26, 2026, and that there were no working surveillance cameras at the complex.

Why is a non-working security camera a liability for property managers?

It gives residents and owners a false sense of coverage, and it leaves police and insurers without footage after a break-in. Cameras need scheduled testing, offline alerts and someone watching.

How can apartment complexes prevent parking lot car break-ins?

Test cameras regularly, monitor them live at night, patrol the lot on an irregular schedule, and keep time-stamped logs that can be shared with police.