Just yesterday we discussed a few ideas for dealing with burglars before they have gotten inside the building. So let's continue with the building and its interior... But for now let's just focus on detecting their intrusion.
The natural thought for keeping burglars out is an alarm system. However, alarms do not really prevent a person from entering. Consider again the concepts of deter, detect, delay, deny. An alarm system is generally meant only to detect an attack. Some integrated systems can initiate an automated response but strictly speaking an alarm only detects. Granted some aspects of it may deter an intruder and a determined intruder attempting to bypass an alarm system will certainly be delayed, but let's stick to its detection value.
Keeping bad guys out of the building falls to physical control devices - locks, doors, windows, walls and so on. Once a person has reached the building there are some considerations. Make sure foliage is trimmed (less than 18") and canopied (above 5-6') to enhance the detectability of a person near the building. Windows and doors should be locked! Bad guys are generally 'minimalists' and want ease and convenience. Now assuming that they do not have a key to an exterior door (and how many churches really implement a key control program - does yours) and that all other access points are secured, the bad guy will have to force access. That means a broken window, door frame, or padlock (in the case of sheds).
They're in! How do you know? Well a well designed alarm system can be very useful with this, however most systems are not well designed or well installed - thus many false alarms. Frequent false alarms mean that the police response will cease, at some point, from being a serious effort. This can be mitigated with a CCTV (closed-circuit television) camera system that allows a monitoring service to verify the alarm before sending a response, but that can really cost money up front.. It is however an excellent solution. Sparta is an exceptional company providing remote video monitoring services and there are several others.
I strongly encourage alarm systems, but today's technology offers some low-cost options that can be very effective. Take for instance, integrated wireless sensors and control panel that also offer network notification methods - that's right - email or text messaging. So rather than paying for a monitoring service it is possible to have your (or several members of your congregation) cellphones messaged directly by the alarm system. What a great tool.
So without an alarm system how does one know that an intrusion has occurred? One method we've already discussed briefly are patrols. The issue here is how long will it take the burglar to accomplish their goal - what is the delay? Having someone 'patrol' the property several times over the course of a night could offer detection that is timely enough. But let's consider one additional piece of technology network accessible CCTV. Yes, rather than having someone actually expose themselves to danger by walking or driving to the property they can observe the area from the safety of their own home (laptop at a wireless access point). Just a thought..
The answer, without technology, is creativity... The key concept to remember here is the Critical Detection Point which is the point in an attacker's activity that affords the last possible detection in order for a response to disrupt their success. In other words, the time will the bad guy need to complete the task minus the time it takes a response to arrive and disrupt the activity and the amount of time it takes to initiate that response after the detection. These numbers are generally pretty sloppy but it does offer a way to consider just how much observation may be needed without an alarm system - and how fast response will be needed with an alarm system.
Rob
/
No comments:
Post a Comment