I disagree. Whoever has the laser is the one doing wrong, and the one that needs to be stopped (especially from just moving on to harassing another person). Might be a police matter, might just be a “tell the parents” matter (can’t assume it’s harmless child), but it does need to be addressed.
Yeah, so long as she isn’t parading around naked or anything, she should have the choice of whether she wants to be able to look out her windows. Of course, living in an urban setting, one assumes other people might be looking in. Even if some jerk is secretly peeping, they out not do it in a manner than makes the target uncomfortable - such as flashing a laser on them.
Yeah, if it is a kid, then he needs to learn some consequences. I might start with a sign in the window: Dear Parents of the Creepy Kid at (address) with the laser. The police will be involved very soon. Make him stop.
Never look for a laser source aimed at you using binoculars
Please
I suppose.
Although, I doubt that the binoculars add any danger at close distances. The laser spot is already smaller than the entrance pupil of the eye, so the additional light-gathering ability of the binoculars probably doesn’t make any difference. Still, probably not a great idea.
When I was answering the OP, my impression was that they were a third-party trying to help the victim, by looking for the perp from a different location. That’s where the bino’s would help.
Is this being done at night? If so, I can’t imagine why looking in the general direction of the source wouldn’t immediately reveal the source. The fact that it’s hitting her means her eyes are plenty close enough to the beam for the laser pointer itself to appear as a very bright spot in her field of view. A video camera might help if the issue is the duration (e.g., if it’s just a fleeting flash), but otherwise just tell her to look out the window. It will be obvious.
As others have mentioned, you really don’t want to look in the direction of a laser pointed at you, because if they happen to point it directly at your eye while you’re doing so, it can cause permanent damage.
Agreed. If someone is shining a laser at you, you should not try to look at it - you should look downwards immediately, then shield your eyes with your hand - it’s pretty unlikely someone could shine it directly in your eye at first shot, but pretty likely to happen if you look in the direction of the source.
Green lasers can blind you before your blink reflex kicks in.
Having had my eyes (and the rest of the audiences’ eyes) blasted by careless presenters in seminars on multiple occasions over the years, I am confident that that isn’t true for the sort of laser implied here (hand-held laser pointer).
I’m not suggesting she stare starkly and unflinchingly at it. If you ask me where the sun is located in the sky right now, I can locate it without going blind. I don’t need any special tools.
Laser pointers are typically class IIIa or lower. You’d need to stare at one for several minutes to cause eye damage. We don’t know what class laser the idiot in the other building is using. A class IIIb laser can cause eye damage in 10 milliseconds of exposure. You can buy handheld lasers of class IIIb or even class IV today.
I understand the OP is looking out the window at a pedestrian. Someone in another building is aiming a laser at the pedestrian.
In this case, there’s not much the OP could do. The source of the laser may not even be in sight of the OP. And scanning the suspected building with binoculars is risky, because they might notice and aim the laser at the OP. Camera + telephoto lens is safe, as long as you look at the camera’s digital screen and not through an optical viewfinder.
It’s best if the pedestrian could just point a camera (cell phone camera will do) in the general direction she thinks the laser is coming from, and take some pictures or movies. If the laser is aimed near the camera - but not directly at it, the camera will probably show the source of the laser without being blinded by it.
Pedestrian? No, the OP said:
Although I guess anyone who is walking anywhere, even in their own apartment, is technically a pedestrian.
I’m guessing that means she’s in her apartment when it’s happening.
Does she have an old cell phone or computer? If so, there are many programs which can be used to do continuous, circular recording. You tell it how long each segment should be and it will record for that amount of time, then start a new recording, etc. If it runs out of space, it deletes the old recordings. Set up the camera so it’s looking out the window and have it record continuously. The camera may pick up on the laser as it’s reflecting off dust.
One issue will be that the window will reflect on the camera. She’ll need to rig up something so that the camera is very close to the glass and doesn’t get interference from reflections from inside the room. Perhaps cover the camera with a dark cloth or something.
OK, so I misread it (read that as walking through the apartment complex). If she’s in her own room, I agree she should just set up a camera pointed out the windows.
When I was in college, I had a classmate who lived in the dorm, and his roommate had a laser he’d somehow obtained from a grocery store, and was shining it on people as a prank.
Since this had just happened, the police department had NO sense of humor about it.
I concur that it’s the PD’s job to find out where this is coming from and who’s doing it.
Are you equating a .38 with a laser from a scanner?
I think a video camera (GoPro?) set to look out the window where the laser beam is likely to enter in roughly the right direction might record something interesting and useful.
No.
He’s suggesting that the target can’t tell the difference between being illuminated by a laser pointer vs. a laser sight on a gun. After one shooting the police were keyed up and thought it likely that the laser spot was connected to a gun & gunman, not to a toy and a prankster.
Which seems, if not exactly logical, at least obviously likely thinking by both police & victims.
This laser pointer is, at worst, a dazzle threat with no long lasting potential. Anyone near the window will be able to locate the source at a glance. I wouldn’t bother. Get curtains, then close them when the light’s low.
And here I thought laser sights were red.
