We had a few incidents of crime and vandalism in our small gated community (84 homes, one entry/exit gate and community park). I was actually president of the HOA at the time and proposed a camera surveillance system that comprised of one camera at the entry way that would take "snapshots" of vehicles that entered the gate as well as one that looked over our park area.
These camera would be day/night and would be connected to an Axis 241Q video server that would reside inside a box along with DSL connection on the "inside pillar" of the gate entry area. We had the luxury of power and a phone line as they were already placed there for the gates. I was also considering using "Keyon" as they would give us broadband access with a one ft square antenna.
Access to live video feeds could be obtained via the Internet and would be restricted via user name and password just for our residents. We already have a community web site so the images would just be sent via FTP on an image change (all done via the Axis 241Q). The theory here was I would have cheaper "non-IP" cameras exposed in case they were stolen or vandalized (the Axis and DSL boxes would be inside a locked secured box).
I got contractor estimates for a pole to mount the boxes as well as the cameras themselves. I was going to do all the setup for the Axis installation and connection to the cameras (i.e. save a lot of money for the community).
I thought this would also be a great tool for parents as they could keep on eye on their kids playing in the park area. We were also having a problem with owners walking their dogs (yea feces) in the park and I thought this would help with that problem as well.
When I proposed this scheme to the community I was surprisingly met with STRONG resistance. Residents were actually shouting that they did not want their kids on camera and also anyone knowing their comings and goings through the gate would be an invasion of their privacy.
Long story short, I wound up cancelling the concept all together due to the negativity of the community and the rest of the HOA board.
I was shocked as this seemed a no-brainer to me. We had more than enough money to implement such a security deterrent. To me, it seemed people first have to become a victim of such an event before they want any such systems in place. Denial was strong, even after I told them of the few events that happened in open HOA meetings (and the community was very new at the time). I couldn't even get support for a neighborhood watch program!
Anyway, you do have to worry some about legal ramifications, most notably the "feeling of increased security" that residents may have with such systems. Long story short, you can place legal language in effect to counter this (our by-laws and CC&R's have such language for our entry/exit gates). Basically you are stating that the system does not offer extra security for the community. As stupid as this sounds there are legal cases where people went out in the middle of the night in their communities, became a victim of crime, and then blamed it on the security camera systems (they said that they thought they would have been secure/safe because this system was in place).
Anyway, sorry for the long diatribe, just wanted to give you my experience as this reaction caught me by surprise!