**By James Randles, Portland Security Consultant**
Working as a security consultant in downtown Portland, I sure see a wide range of interesting things. Hitting the streets and going to various businesses, I see broken windows, smashed doors, and vandalized signs all visible to the public. What most of these businesses have in common is that they are on street level. Thousands of pedestrians pass these businesses daily but at night they are open and subject to that same public who passed them a million times already. It is common sense to have a security system in these high traffic areas, right?
But what about those areas that have very little traffic and are isolated from the public? Is security just as important for them?
Those isolated businesses are all over Portland; downtown has numerous high-rise and multi-tenant buildings. All of those different tenants are on various floors away from the public, with usually only a couple of entry points to get to the elevator and then to their suite. A lot of these buildings have an on site guard to do nightly patrols, which gives the tenants a sense of security. That sense of security and surveillance is the most common reason I hear for why these businesses do not need a security system or security services other than a guard to prevent theft or a break in.
Though it is nice to have a “walk through,” I would certainly not want to rely on just that for protecting my office space from intrusion. Being on timed walks to various floors, the walk is more to check common spaces rather than individual offices. Wouldn’t it be better to have an office security verified alarm system with audio detection in your space that is protecting it 24/7 rather than every other hour on the hour?
Sonitrol Pacific’s business security systems offer the only verified alarms in Portland that are capable of full protection without any guess work. With our advanced technology and quick dispatch time, we can catch criminals before they gain entrance to your space and maybe even before that guard is done with his “free” walkthrough. As they say, nothing in this life is free and if it is you probably do not want it.
**By James Randles, Portland Security Consultant**