Some facilities opt to have the security force greet guests and staff upon their arrival inside of a facility. There is nothing wrong with that idea. We would suggest that having a guard shack at the entrance to the parking area is an even better idea in terms of total perimeter control. Also, your guard shack located at the entrance to the parking area helps to protect the vehicles in the parking area and deters illegal and unwanted activity at your facility.
1. Maximum Deterrence
When you place a guard booth at the entrance to the parking area, you are creating both a physical as well as a psychological message that you do not want crime, vandalism, or looting anywhere on your premises. If the guard force greets the customers and staff as they enter the building, guards will only see the parking and perimeter areas as they go on their rounds. Thieves, vandals, and criminals of many stripes will have a much greater hesitation to enter the grounds of a parking lot where they have to pass by your guards. They may not mind rooting around in your parking area at night if the guards spend the majority of their time inside the building.
2. Security Force Notes Unusual People / Vehicles / Occurrences
A security guard in a booth right at the parking entrance area will begin to see the entrance and exit patterns and make associations between vehicles and their drivers. They will know the regular patterns of activity and appropriate times for such activity. Any person, vehicle, or activity that is unusual or something that is happening at an odd hour will draw their suspicion and attentiveness.
3. Keep the Vehicle and Its Contents in the Parking Area
If someone has successfully passed into the parking area with ill intent, wedge barriers with lighted barrier arms can serve as entrapment for a would-be thief or vandal. Even a thief on foot is going to look out of place with expensive items in their hands as they try to walk away from the parking lot. In this case, the problem is now contained inside the parking area, with the guards able to call the police to remove the problem. Wedge arms placed alongside the guard booth can be dropped to stop sedans traveling as fast as 30 to 40 miles per hour. Present technology allows such arms to be dropped remotely as well.
As you can see, there are advantages to having a security presence in a guard shack at the parking area’s entrance. Would-be muggers, thieves, vandals, and stalkers of workers will usually find it a bit daunting and risky to enter the parking area. Their activities will stand in sharp contrast to the regular flow in the parking area, and they can be contained within if illegal activities or trespassing have occurred. This creates a safe space for employees and customers to be able to work, shop, and focus on their jobs, rather than what can or will occur in the parking area.
