What's wrong with this?

Or, maybe the title should have been is this the best way to deal with the problem. This news story from North Carolina brings up a couple of key points in a just a few lines.

First the problem is on-going and not a single loss event.
"An uptown church is shutting its doors more often after a recent rash of robberies."
Ok good, at least we know they aren't making knee-jerk reactions and spending money for just one loss event. Sadly in many instances, and it sure as heck isn't limited to houses of worship, organizations get a little nuts after some event and jump through hoops to make themselves feel better - or that they are safe again. This is not to say that after each and every loss event there shouldn't be a review to improve security planning; it just means that this review need not always result in more spending.

Second, there is a societal fixation on cameras.
"The church plans to buy newer, better security cameras"
Does anyone out there still believe that closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV, aka security cameras) deter any crime? Maybe they do, a little, but if they were effective at it then we might not see so many videos of crime on the news. Consider this, cameras offer a tools for following up, or investigating, activities after they occur. Now this is indeed a very important tool and one that should not be overlooked. Unless someone is monitoring the CCTV system there will be no immediate response to a wrongful act.
So third, just installing better cameras will not likely reduce the number of incidents that occur, unless they are being committed by a select few individuals who, once apprehended, are not able to continue. If not, the losses will continue and the police will more arrests - AND the organization will continue to lose valuable assets. CCTV systems, in a traditional sense, create a nice record of what happened but they are not effective at facilitating the intervention necessary to stop the event.

Look, I'm not saying they shouldn't upgrade their CCTV system. What I am saying is, "hey, let's look into how we might be able to prevent these events from happening in the first place." Maybe, just maybe, catching one of these thieves in the act and counseling them might result in a much better outcome than just having them arrested at some later time.

So how could we prevent it from happening??? I think in the next I might discuss some newer tools - and some old tools.

Fresh start - in more ways than one

Clearly I haven't been posting any information to this blog in quite some time, and for good reasons... Today, however, signals a fresh start for the blog counter for another really good reason. I just learned that Sitemeter had started installing ad cookies on its member sites. So I've moved to a new counter service, and I figured I'd take this time to go ahead and start over - with the counter and with new posts.

Also, some of you may know that I've stopped consulting full-time and returned to the world of "doing" security. I know, I know. You're asking why anyone would do that; give up the cushy hours, the fun travel, eh, you get the point. Suffice it to say it was just time to go ahead and get back into the game.

Stay tuned. More to come (hopefully more regularly)

Wireless Sure... But how do I plan a system anyway?

Not to put the cart before the horse as I did with the previous post... Before you can plan to go wireless with a burglar alarm system you should really plan it a little. After all wired vs. wireless may not be the right question to ask at the beginning anyway. What is the right questions and how do you begin your system plan? Come in and see...
Burglar alarm systems, hereafter referred to just as alarm systems (gotta love the legalese once in a while), are there for piece of mind. Let me make this point clear first - THEY DO NOT STOP A DETERMINED INTRUDER!!! These systems will let you know if someone has activated a sensor which may mean they have already gained access. But they fill other purposes as well. How do you know when you enter your home that someone isn't waiting for you inside? Well that might be the greatest value of an alarm system. An adversary that abducts you inside your house wins in every way possible. They are not in the travelled way, not in public view, and it is highly unlikely that you will have time to dial 911 for help. You alarm system should be planned well enough so that you can be reasonably confident that you are the only person that has entered your home when you open your door.

Planning a system requires a bit of discussion on sensor types, activities and spaces, and access/traffic patterns. So the next couple of posts will deal with each of these briefly.

See this on wireless alarm systems

Wireless alarm systems are a real option especially when retrofitting a building. Wireless devices save money and time that is consumed trying to drag wire throughout a facility that is already built.

Why go wireless???

Ever thought about a burglar alarm but didn't want to deal with the wires? Ever think that wireless wasn't good enough? Maybe it's because of movies like The Score, The Italian Job, Heat, and the others that portray very talented thieves and complicated thefts. The kind that generally just don't happen everyday in real life. The common burglar will use the door or window that is left unlocked. Or they may put a foot against the door or destroy a window. Either way the greatest threat comes from the path of least resistance.

Realistically, what are the chances that someone would bring equipment to generate a radio signal to jam a wireless alarm system? But what if your wireless system could detect the jamming attempt and use that as a trigger for an alarm?
Welcome to the real world of quality wireless alarm systems. What is quality? See Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for a detailed discussion of that topic. But a worthwhile wireless alarm system will likely include all UL listed parts. And is should do some very important things like detect jamming attempts, prevent data collision, and device supervision.

Data collision is what occurs when two or more devices try to communicate to the system panel at one time. Worthwhile systems will not do this. While device supervision is just what it sounds like. The system panel periodically checks the status of each device. What a device fails to respond then the panel makes notifications that something needs to be done.

What might be the best reason for looking at a wireless systems is their resilience during power outages. The backup battery that should be fitted with the system panel is good and may last for 12 hours, but when that battery does not have to support each individual sensor it lasts much longer. See with wireless systems each device has its own battery and thus is not affected by power outages in the same way as a traditional wired system.

Now you may think that he batteries are expensive, but its not the expense that is likely to cause a problem since they usually last for about one to two years. The greatest issue the annoyance of actually changing the batteries every so often. But there are trade-offs with everything.

Keep in mind that there are disadvantages to wireless systems as well, but for the most part they should work just fine for you home and small business needs.

More on planning an alarm system and monitoring options next...