Live security monitoring can effectively reduce parking lot loitering and enhance safety. A blended approach that combines advanced remote surveillance with on-site security officers ensures comprehensive protection at an affordable cost. In this article, we will delve into how this method works and why it's the optimal solution for safeguarding your parking areas.
Seeing strangers lingering around a parking lot can be an unsettling sight...especially when it’s your lot! Sure, maybe they’re just looking around trying to remember where they parked their car – we’ve all lived that “Seinfeld” plot at least once in our lives! But maybe they’re lawbreakers…with bad intentions. Regardless, their mere presence can be seen as threatening to visitors, workers or tenants who use the parking area.
Loitering has become a growing problem in parking areas nationwide and so have criminal acts such as car theft, break-ins and even assaults. Simply put, parking lots are a hot spot for bad actors, thanks to their location and design, and if they’re not properly protected, that makes them even more attractive.
Whether you own or manage a shopping mall, a hospital, or a housing complex, you are responsible for the safety of the people who park on your property. So, what are the most effective and affordable loitering prevention techniques?
How About On-Site Security Officers?
The best security system is one that stops criminal activity before it begins. Having an on-site presence on your property promotes crime deterrence through visibility; if loiterers see there’s a security guard on duty, chances are excellent they will find somewhere else to go. A security officer is also prepared to rapidly respond to any suspicious activity that occurs on their watch.
BUT… An on-site presence comes at a high cost…especially if your property requires 24/7 surveillance or more than one guard. That could run a company hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.
How About Remote Live Security Monitoring?
A more affordable solution is round-the-clock surveillance through a permanent security system or mobile surveillance towers. These solutions use a combination of monitoring equipment and a command center of video analysts and dispatchers, who keep a trained eye on your parking area and respond to suspicious events in real-time.
BUT… Obviously, with live security monitoring there is no human presence on-site. Without a security officer on the premises, there’s no visible deterrent to loiterers and no one to escort customers, visitors or tenants to their vehicles after sundown.
Better Yet, a Blended Approach: Live Security Monitoring + On-Site Security Officers
Maybe you want the best of both worlds…something that delivers optimal protection but won’t break the bank. At Titan, we offer a security plan that combines remote live security monitoring (fixed or mobile) with a boots-on-the-ground approach. We find this blended approach to be a highly effective method to protect properties from loiterers and suspicious activity in general. Here’s what we offer:
- On-Site Security Officers: Titan’s security officers are exhaustively vetted, rigorously trained, and assigned based on specific client needs and situations. All our officers are highly attentive and professional, and many of them are off-duty law enforcement officers.
- Live Monitoring: Using your choice of a fixed system or our mobile Virtual Guard, we watch over your lot with strategically placed infrared and A.I.-enabled security cameras that identify movements, leading to real-time security interventions. Remote monitors can either alert on-site security or confront the loiterers through lights, sirens, and talk-down capabilities. Here’s one example of our surveillance team doing just that.
- Patrol Services: Our video analysts and dispatchers are in direct radio contact with the Titan patrol services in your area, which ensures a rapid on-site response. From there, our highly trained security officers will investigate the situation and, if needed, call law enforcement.
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Want to learn more about how to protect your parking area from loiterers by integrating patrols with surveillance? Just fill out and submit the form below and a Titan sales team member will get back to you shortly!
