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Why Campus Security Begins in the Parking Lot
Parking lots are a magnet for criminal activity and one of the most vulnerable parts of a school and university campus.
The threat of crimes ranging from violent attacks, drug dealing, and car theft is ever-present in a campus parking facility.
When it comes to the overall security profile of your campus, ensuring the parking lot is secured should be the first place to start.
Creating a safe environment for students, visitors, and staff relies on using the right mix of technology, people, and planning. Below, the USA's leading parking lot security experts, LotGuard, outline why campus parking lot security is vital.
Improving Physical Security
Most parking lots have layouts that make hardening them against security threats an ongoing challenge.
One of the most challenging aspects of parking lot security is visibility. If your campus is lucky enough to have a security station or patrol units, these can only monitor the parts of the parking lot that are in their direct line of sight.
With potentially hundreds of vehicles to watch and several natural hiding spots, having situational awareness of the parking lot is incredibly difficult.
Ramping up physical security can be expensive, particularly if you intend on having 24/7 guards patrolling the lots.
Some fundamental and more cost-effective physical security improvements include:
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Invest in lighting: Criminal activity often occurs under cover of darkness. Take away the opportunity for criminals to strike by boosting the illumination around your campus parking lots
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Secure the perimeter: Installing fences or planters/bushes around the edge of your lots will help cut down on unwelcome intrusions
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Signage: Installing signage around your lots will help both pedestrian and vehicle traffic navigate your parking lots more safely, reducing the likelihood of accidents
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Layout: If your campus parking lot doesn't have a security patrol or security station, then orientating parking spaces so that you have maximum visibility is an excellent way of improving line of sight coverage
Deploying Surveillance Cameras
Deploying surveillance cameras is undoubtedly the most effective way of securing your campus parking lots. LotGuard's mobile surveillance units have been specifically created for the sole purpose of parking lot security.
LotGuard PRO is a fully autonomous Mobile Surveillance Trailer that provides 24/7 security to your parking lots and properties without the need for mounting poles, onsite power, or internet connection.
A LotGuard PRO unit can be provided with a customized camera profile to ensure your campus is fully secured with no compromises.
These cameras deliver live and recorded video through our 4G LTE transmission technology, allowing for remote viewing of live and archived video at any time, regardless of your location.
Camera enhancements include:
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License Plate Recognition (LPR) cameras: WCCTV's LPR technology automatically scans and stores license plates to assist with crime investigation and access management
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Infrared: LotGuard can provide an industry-leading 650ft IR illumination for total coverage at night
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Solar Powering: Both LotGuard PRO and MINI have solar powering options
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Video Analytics: Lotguard features built-in video analytics technology. This intelligent surveillance software allows you to configure a series of automatic detection rules that will alert you when motion is detected
Whether you choose to customize your cameras with any of the above will depend on what best suits your campus. The experts at LotGuard will be happy to help you select the most appropriate system for your needs.
Planning and Procedures
In addition to technology and physical security measures, your people and policies must be security-focused.
If you have a security patrol, they must perform a regular 'walkaround' of the facility, including the parking lot, to sweep for illegal items or activities.
If a student or staff member needs to visit their vehicle during the day, a security officer should accompany them.
These procedures should help reduce the number of random visits to cars by students during the school day.
Last, all vehicles using your campus parking lot should be required to have permits. These permits should be displayed in a visible location (such as a windscreen) and only be provided to authorized vehicles.
If students need to drive a different vehicle to campus, they should obtain a day pass from the administration. Security personnel should scan for parking permits as they routinely inspect the parking lot.
LotGuard: Campus Parking Lot Surveillance System
If you are concerned about the security of your campus parking lots, and want to boost safety for your students, visitors, and staff, reach out to LotGuard today.
LotGuard surveillance units detect, deter, mitigate, and report criminal activities that occur in parking lot environments.
We can provide LotGuards regardless of your site's power or internet availability; they are fully autonomous surveillance units.
