Hidden camera found in shrubbery outside suburban New York home. Officials say it’s part of a nationwide trend.

SCARSDALE, N.Y. – Police have issued a warning about camouflaged cameras hidden in the shrubbery outside upscale suburban homes after one was found in Scarsdale earlier this week.

It’s just the latest incident in a nationwide trend. Police in California have been warning about camouflaged cameras for several weeks. 

Near Boston, a camera was found hidden in shrubs outside a home, and three people were arrested after they allegedly used the camera to time a break-in for when the family was away. All three suspects had New York City addresses.

Camera found hidden in bushes in Scarsdale

A Scarsdale homeowner doing yardwork found the surprise in their shrubbery. Police say it was a camera camouflaged with fake greenery and hooked up to a cellular hotspot to broadcast surveillance video to parts unknown.

Scarsdale police are getting help from the FBI and Homeland Security, trying to find who’s behind the hidden camera.

“The group is generally from South America, the group that we are investigating,” said Scarsdale Police Lt. Steve Delbene.

Delbene said video from a camouflaged camera can help burglars monitor opportunities to break into homes or steal vehicles.

“Criminals have taken advantage of the technology of the day to make it a little bit safer for them to monitor potential homes to be burglarized,” he said.

“The bad guys are ahead of us,” Scarsdale resident Steve Samtur said.

Samtur said it’s concerning to his neighbors, and many residents have been checking their shrubbery for hidden surveillance cameras.

“I think we will, and in general Scarsdale will, be more vigilant because of this,” Samtur said.

In a message to village residents, Scarsdale officials said police searched the rest of the Bradford Road neighborhood and found no additional hidden camera devices.

“You always want to monitor your property for any sort of unusual things that might be going on,” Delbene said.

Because someone might be monitoring you.

Tony Aiello

Tony Aiello serves as a CBS2 general assignment reporter with a focus on covering news and breaking stories in the Northern Suburbs.