Simple Premises Security Tips that Work: Keep Safer at Home and at Work Without Needing a Bunker.

The Albuquerque, New Mexico shootings targeting the homes of Democratic elected officials orchestrated by a losing GOP State House candidate adds to the growing sense that no place, or person, is safe from grievance based violence. (Full disclosure I personally know some of those officials whose homes were shot at, and my heart goes out to them and their families. I’m glad they are all safe, and that the man behind the shootings was captured before he could inflict more harm).

True, you may not be an elected official, but people at schools, retail stores and restaurants, subways, workplaces, hospitals, synagogues, and various public events, as well as people at their own homes, have all experienced this grievance based violence firsthand.

In this piece, based upon what I learned in 30+ years of conducting premises investigations for civil and criminal litigation, we’ll look at some simple steps you can take to make your home and your workplace safer, and the best part is you can do so without having to live like John Malkovich’s character in RED…OK he did have his reasons…but I digress.

Lighting

One of the single most important premises safety steps you can take is simply to add more and better light, whether outside your home or you business. 

Light serves as a deterrence. Though not everyone thinks in terms of deterrence. Being seen thanks to brighter light makes approaching higher risk. 

Light makes it more difficult for someone to conceal themselves and their movement from you. Motion sensor lights can work well for a residence, provided the sensor’s field of vision can capture movement from far enough away to pick up an approach to the house. They do no good if a person reaches the house before they activate. (The same for motion security cameras too).

In addition, dusk to dawn light bulbs or light fixtures that turn on and off with the changes in lighting conditions at those times of day, also work quite well. Though they do increase your electricity bill slightly. But that’s a small price to pay for security.

Regardless of the type of light, it’s important to have sufficient lighting to cover approaches to the house such as the driveway, and not just at the front door.

Businesses should have have lighting that covers parking areas, approaches (such as walkways) to the building, and lighting at all doors.

For businesses it may make sense to use timers to turn the lights on and off, but it’s critical to check the timer function monthly, and to reset the timers when the clock changes too. It's easy for timers to get off time, and to turn lights on during the day and off at night.

Businesses can also use dusk to dawn lighting providing they are strong enough to create sufficient lighting. Businesses typically need to cover larger areas with each light, so brightness and range factor into light choices.

Unlike in a residential area, where neighbors can be directly effected by lighting due to the closeness of properties, businesses should aim to approximate daylight levels of lighting when possible. Yes, it can be more expensive, but increased safety and security (peace of mind) is worth it.

Minimize Obstructions

Privacy is great. But, shrubs, a line of trees, or other items that help increase your privacy also create hiding places for people, as well as obstruct your view outwards. This is especially true when they are close to, and block part of your view of the outside from a window.

So when looking at your landscaping and other types of privacy protection, think about it from both perspectives. It's a balancing act.

Perhaps, if you still want the privacy they provide, you can limit the obstruction from them by trimming the bush or tree down to a size where a person can’t hide behind it, or use it to conceal his approach to your home. And where it can’t obstruct your view of activity outside.

For businesses, obstructions can occur through physical design, such as a block wall or fence that creates a lovely courtyard, while also creating a place for someone to enter without being seen. Again, this is not to say don’t create such a feature, but think about ways to offset the risk that it can create so that you can enjoy the benefit the physical feature offers.

Shrubs and trees planted along walkways, as well as supporting pillars in garage structures, can offer hiding places for an attacker. Try to keep the pathway clear of obstructions or at least control access from those locations. You can do this by installing a rail or other type of barrier that makes it more difficult for someone to use the obstruction to hide behind, or to launch an attack from it.

In addition, businesses and retail establishments, should keep windows free from obstructions, including posters, merchandise, or shelving, so that you have a full view of what is happening outside the window.

Alarms and Security Cameras

Technology is great…when it works.

The day after Christmas 2019 the house I lived in at the time was broken into while I was at work. I had an alarm, but the burglar came in through a picture window, a fixed window located between two sliding windows, that was not wired. The burglar knew that breaking the fixed pane, unlike the two moving windows, wouldn’t trigger the alarm. Sadly for him, he apparently didn’t know about the two dogs inside the house…but that's for another time.

Anyway, every electronic system, whether cameras or alarms, has vulnerabilities, so it’s best to look for those weaknesses, and make adjustments to ensure they provide the security and safety benefit you seek.

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For alarms, you can add a glass breaker alarm to deal with a fixed pane window. But, just be aware that a pot or pan that falls to floor will trigger that alarm. So maybe they are best to use when you aren’t home.

With a video camera, particularly one operated by a motion sensor, you have to balance between having every car that drives past your property and only those who stop over there when it comes to activating the cameras.

You could accomplish this by adjusting it’s field of vision or angle, so that every car that drives by doesn’t activate the camera, but if someone pulls to the curb, the camera will activate.

You can also have an always on camera system, but then you have to be comfortable with videoing yourself at times.

Each of us will have different comfort levels, and levels of security consciousness, that we have to balance. Find what works for you, and for your business and run with it.

Just remember that premises security is just one component of safety. If you’d like to learn more about things your can do to keep your business safe, download my free checklist, or watch my free on-demand workshop below.