Business Security Information

If your business uses security cameras, recording is essential.  The recorded security camera feed can be used for a variety of purposes, especially after a business has been burglarized or robbed.  Currently, most businesses use a DVR (digital video recorder) to record their security cameras, but some still use time-lapsed VCR.  No matter which method you use to record your security cameras, what will prevent the criminal from taking the video tape or the DVR’s hard drive when they burglarize or rob your business?  If there is nothing to stop the criminal from taking the recorded security camera video, you should consider the use of lock boxes.

It seems no matter where I go I run into security issues.  It was no different recently when I took a trip to another state and stayed in a hotel.  The hotel belongs to a national chain and is located in a major city in Ohio.  Obviously, just because a hotel is well-known and located where you think security would be evaluated more closely does not mean this is always the case.  This article is mainly geared towards those who own a hotel or travel a lot for their job.

This week I stopped by what use to be an auto dealership in a city near where I live and saw some examples of good and bad security that I thought I would share with you in this post.  While there, I took some pictures to illustrate what I saw.  If you look closely at these pictures, you will see that the business installed a metal barrier which  prevents vehicles or other equipment from easily being taken from the lot.  It is a simple design of steel piping that is secured in the ground with the openings to the lot being protected by a sliding gate made from the same material.  The steel posts in the ground are close enough that even if the top steel piping was removed, it would not allow a vehicle to be driven between the steel pipes.  Not placing posts close enough together is a major problem in most dealership lots I have evaluated.  The pictures show a good example of how to do it right without making the barrier an eyesore.  In addition, the business secured the steel piping in the ground with concrete and even formed a raised concrete lip, making it difficult to remove individual steel piping from the ground even with the right type of heavy equipment.  Please note:  this type of lot protection is good when you are trying to prevent theft of vehicles or equipment, but additional security is required if you are trying to protect against parts theft.

A couple of weeks ago I went with my family to get some pizza.  It was one of those day we had been rushing around and just wanted to get some good hot food, so pizza it was.  Like most food service businesses, this one had a security camera system that was visible as soon as you walked into the store.  While I was standing there waiting for our pizza, I started looking at the positioning of the security cameras.  What I noticed was that the security cameras covered the cash registers and other employee work areas, but the camera system did not cover the customer area in front of the checkout area.  With this positioning of the cameras, their purpose seemed to be just to monitor employees work and to address internal theft issues.

Do you use an EAS (electronic article surveillance) system in your retail store?  I know that most of the major retailers use these type of systems.  Actually, I was at a department store the other day, and I noticed, like I have so many times in the past few years, how ineffective they can be.  Let me explain that statement.

Well, I really do learn something new almost every day.  I was reading an article in Forbes magazine  the other day about a robbery prevention technique that I had never heard of before.  I thought I would share it with you in this article.

Greeting a Bank Robber

Some banks are now using greeters, like Wal-Mart does, at the entrance to the bank as a robbery prevention tool.  The theory behind this technique is that most criminals do not want to be noticed.  Supposedly if a bank employee looks the criminal in the eye and says hello when they walk into the bank, the criminal no longer has that psychological edge of anonymity and confidence they need to commit the crime.

This past month I have been working with a business regarding some physical security improvements, and one of those items was a security or intrusion alarm system.  It got me thinking about businesses that I deal with who usually ask me about why a certain element of security they have implemented, such as security systems, is not working.  Most of the time when I look at their particular situation, one or more elements of the security system does not fit their needs.  Usually this is not discovered until the system has been installed and paid for, leaving the business with a system that does not fulfill their needs and sometimes results in the system not being used after a period of time.  This results in wasted time and money for the business owner as well as poor or nonexistent security.

Let me begin by saying that I am not a big proponent of using security cameras to secure a business.  I have dealt with a number of businesses that install security cameras without looking at their overall security needs.  Businesses that have installed security cameras often think they have adequate security but find out they don’t when a theft occurs.  Even though they have a nice recording (if the camera image quality is good) of the theft or other security incident occurring, the cameras did not stop or prevent the event from happening.  Security cameras can be used as a part of security to protect a business but should not be the first, and definitely not the only, element of security they use to protect their business.

I just got done watching this short video (2 minutes) on installing a security door plate on a residential door with a wood frame.  It showed how this security plate could provide another layer of security against a criminal that tries to break in by kicking down your door.  As you watch, you will see that the door leads to what appears to be the speaker’s home office.  Although many commercial structures have metal doors with metal door frames which do not need security door plates, I have seen numerous offices and other commercial buildings which have exactly the same type of doors with wood frames where security door plates would have helped reduce the risk of someone kicking down the door.  Also, note that the security door plate helps the deadbolt lock resist such an attack (the door entry lock or door handle lock really is not affected by this security measure.)  Along this line, I would recommend that you install deadbolt locks on your exterior doors if you have not already.  Make sure any exterior door locks you use are resistant to lock bumping (read the definition and watch the videos on lock bumping to understand the dangers from this type of attack).

In the picture, you can see that this business first installed metal bars to protect against someone from breaking in through the window.  As you can tell from the cut and bent bars, that was not enough security so the business went to the next level which was to remove the window and then fill the opening in with bricks.  For most businesses that are trying to protect themselves from a break-in, this  would be just too ugly of a solution.