Did you know more than 10 percent of all crimes happen in a garage or parking lot? These facilities make prime targets because automobiles are a high-value score, the victims move on predictable schedules and the area is often poorly protected.
If you’re a business owner, displaying little signs saying the lot owner is not responsible for lost or stolen property is not enough to shirk liability. To avoid financial charges and to keep your clients safe, make a commitment to beef up your security.
Security Cameras
Surveillance cameras can service as both a deterrent and a prosecution device. When well placed, they can make a thief think twice before committing a crime. High-resolution security cameras with a short-term recording function can be used to capture a crime in the act, delivering the likeness to the authorities and hopefully leading to a conviction. Adding IP capabilities to the cameras allow security teams the ability to stop a crime while in progress, increasing the probability of an arrest. Internet-based cameras will also lower the cost of recording since it can be done on any computer with a large hard drive.
Situation Graph Tree
For very large facilities or ones with high-end automobiles, simply having cameras may not be enough. Add a situation graph tree system to predict human behavior before it happens. A situation graph tree is a method of forecasting actions that can be used to find a crime before the thief commits it. Security professionals are using the system, along with pan-tilt-zoom cameras, to analyze the seemingly random conduct of people and determine which ones will be most likely to commit a crime. From there, simple presence of a security person will stop the act before it happens.
Doppler Sensors
If situation graph trees can help to predict criminal behavior, then a sensor system attached to it will make the antitheft process into an automated effort. Sensors that rely on the Doppler effect, the change in frequency that happens when an object is moving, allow an alarm system to sense the movements of people around it. Much like a camera, these movements can be quickly analyzed for unlawful patterns. Stationary security devices can give a thief the opportunity to move through the blind spots. Doppler sensors do not have areas for a criminal to hide.
Good Education and Policy
Sometimes that best technology is low tech. A good safety education program coupled with procedures to keep people and assets secure can go farther than a lot of fancy devices. More importantly, high-end equipment means nothing if it is not being used properly or efficiently. Research shows that most crime prevention programs start with good intentions but fall short with the actual planning and delivery. Create policies and procedures that incorporate all of the elements of your security plan, then train staff and key stakeholders on them. Make this available to the management of your client companies so that they can train their personnel as they see fit.
Hired Muscle
All the prevention devices in the world mean nothing if there is no bite at the end of the process. A hooded figure breaking into a car has plenty of time to escape if the response time for the authorities takes more than a few minutes. To make your security system the best it can be, make sure to have trained guards and a rapid police presence.