By Pamela Singleton, Director of Communications
Posted May 29, 2008

Outdoor security presents unique challenges to business owners, facilities managers and security directors. Check out this article by Gary R. Cook, P.E., a registered professional engineer in the State of California, the owner of Security Design Sciences in Ventura, CA, and the publisher of Security Design Newsletter.

Parking Lot Security

Security for parking lots seems to be getting a lot of press lately. If you look at the statistics, roughly 80% of the criminal acts at shopping centers, strip malls and business offices occur in the parking lot. Lawyers make a good living off liability cases based on a lack of sufficient security measures or not taking “reasonable care” in the protection of employees and customers against criminal threats. The lawsuits often revolve around lack of sufficient lighting, surveillance and response. Once crime takes a foothold in an area it is difficult to break the trend, but there are some things you can do that can improve security, deter crime, reduce potential liability and make your customers feel safer. It’s interesting to note that where parking lot security has been implemented, customer use has actually increased because they feel safer. Increased customer use means increased profit which can be used to justify the increased cost related to any security improvements. Click here to access Mr. Cook’s full article.