The new DEFEND 360 helped a residential road paving business owner in Houston track down equipment thieves and stay on top of a fast-growing fire.
Cody Gill got a surprise message when he arrived at work the day after Thanksgiving last year–his DEFEND App notified him that activity had been spotted at his construction site.
“We have a DEFEND 360 mounted to our construction trailer, which remains at the work site,” he said. “Since it’s so easy to install and run, it goes wherever the trailer goes. And this time, it caught something big.”
Gill and his brother own a residential road paving business in Houston. A third-generation business, the Gill's primarily pave roads in new developments in the Houston area. Extensive project scope and long commutes mean the company typically leaves its equipment at the work site overnight and on weekends and holidays–a convenient arrangement, but one that leaves equipment vulnerable to theft and mischief.
“In the morning we got notifications on that app that there had been activity,” he said. “We went through the pictures and sure enough, there were a couple of guys walking around.”
Thieves had hit the site overnight, walking away with about $12,000 worth of tools. Gill captured the theft on his DEFEND 360.
Using DEFEND 360 to Detect Theft at a Construction Site
Gill has been using a DEFEND 360 since shortly after the 4G LTE camera was released in 2025. The camera is mounted on a mobile office/tool trailer that is hauled around to different construction sites.
Despite the dark night, the video and still imagery were clear thanks to the 360’s IR flash–two men walking around the site, seeing what they could carry off.
Gill turned the images over to police and used the video footage to understand how the thieves were behaving. With these lessons learned, the company changed how it stored equipment overnight and on weekends. Now, equipment is stored carefully within the camera’s field of view, and the smaller material is stored then surrounded by larger equipment.
“If they try and steal something, they have to work significantly harder to get anything out of those areas,” he said.
DEFEND Notifications Warn of an Imminent Fire
The construction site theft was not the only time Gill’s company benefited from a DEFEND 360.
A couple of weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday theft, Gill and his wife were at a church event when his phone started buzzing–he was getting nonstop notifications. Gill slipped outside and pulled up the DEFEND 360 live view and was shocked to see fire trucks racing past a camera installed at another job site.
Notifications continued to pour in, and Gill saw more fire trucks, an ambulance, and even the fire chief speeding by his site. Soon, he saw the red glow of flames in the distance.
This construction site was in a new development with little traffic, and with how dry the area had been, fears of the fire spreading grew. Gill met his brother and drove out to the work site to check on his equipment cache.
The cause of the fire turned out to be an unattended campfire or case of arson. Luckily, the flames were put out before they reached his equipment. Gill chalks the event up to another case of the DEFEND 360 providing quick feedback on what could be a dangerous situation.
“It gives us a real feeling of security,” he said. “It’s been great.”
Construction Site Security Camera
The DEFEND 360 is a natural fit for construction site security needs. With a 4K photo definition and 75-foot detection range, it captures high-definition imagery day and night. The attached solar panel and built-in rechargeable battery ensure uninterrupted operations, and cloud storage ensures imagery is accessible when you need it. The camera has app-controlled pan, tilt, and zoom functionality for true 360-degree visibility, with instant motion-activated alerts and live view capability. The camera installs in minutes with no special tools and no technical skills.
