My folks have trouble with vandalism (slashing tires, destroying property, etc.) from the kids in their neighborhood. The cops can't/won't do anything about it, either.
A security cam system was too expensive, so they put a camcorder in the window to record intermittently. Of course, the kids caught on to the red light flashing in the window and knew to stay away.
Gaffer tape (or Duct tape, but that leaves a messy residue behind) over the red light will solve that problem. You might need several layers to mask the light. Note that some camcorders have two record lights you need to mask.