I often wish security cameras in the US were more powerful. They're terrible at identifying useful information from a crime in progress: license plates, face and clothing... the important bits are always blurry.
Very good cameras are available in the US, people are bad at placement and choosing appropriate cameras. They install cameras too high up to capture faces and choose cameras with extremely wide views. If you concentrate your pixels on a smaller area you are more likely to get a useful image.
A quick test is to have a friend put on a hoodie and creep around your house at different times of day. How many clear shots of their face do you get? Or are you just capturing the top of their head? In my experience if you don't have a face or a license plate the police aren't interested.
Usually at parking spots outside businesses. Or parking areas in general - another friend's catalytic converter got stolen because he drives an SUV and the ground clearance allows for very easy cutting.
In both cases, the camera footage was utterly useless.
Well, even when they're switched on and the police have somehow managed to not delete the incriminating footage before it gets turned over there's still very little difference. The sad fact is that police are above the law.
