A recent trend in residential community security has seen less 24-hour gatehouses and more targeted security guard patrols. Property managers who are feeling the pinch of the current economy are opting for more financially manageable mobile patrols.
As luck would have it, these security guard patrols have major advantages:
- Offers more coverage – teams can monitor all areas in person
- Prevents guardhouse fatigue – security guards stay more alert when they aren’t trapped in a small box for the entire shift
- Targets specific locations or times of day
Planning for Security Guards in Gated Communities
Gated community planners know that security is not a luxury. It is part of the design process and stays important from concept to implementation. Many communities double up on security by adding key code entry or call-in boxes.
Interestingly, for every actively occupied gatehouse (with a security guard always inside), there are several that have part-time security guards, performing patrols or other community services. There are many that have abandoned guard houses in recent years because of the high cost of maintenance. These kinds of changes happen. The economy will continue to be in flux and community managers will need to adjust with the economy. The need to provide security to their residents, however, will never change.
Gated communities have an image to uphold, after all. It’s what draws residents to the community. Residents need to know they are welcome and secure in their neighborhood, and security guards are the important human component that provides this sense of safety.
Familiarity Is The First Step
Security guards must become familiar with the gated communities they protect, and residents must become familiar with the guards. In a familiar place, it’s easier to sense when something is different or “off” somehow, and people can spring into action faster to deter crime. (This is also the philosophy behind Neighborhood Watch programs.)
Knowing there’s always a presence in the gatehouse is just one method of developing familiarity. For neighborhoods in which this is not feasible, a mobile patrol in a familiar marked vehicle is another method. Foot patrols and overnight watches help develop and maintain this sense of familiarity.
Mobile Means More
These days, wireless technology, mobile devices, and other advances in both software and hardware make a security guard company’s operations more powerful and more streamlined. Security guards can stay connected to each other and the home office through mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and various workstations around a residential community. In this way, being out of the gatehouse does not affect their effectiveness. On the contrary, they can cover more ground and keep an eye on the entire residential complex in person instead of watching monitors.
Mobile security guard teams can also be deployed to targeted areas or at specific times to cut down on costs and prevent fatigue.
In this way, those seemingly empty guardhouses in gated communities may have a valid reason. The owners may be looking to cut costs or deploy more efficient, mobile security guard teams.