Industry Focus
Smash and Grab
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Jan 01, 2018
A few years ago – three to be
exact – I became the legal
guardian of a granddaughter,
and with that came the
finding of a daycare that not
only provided a good learning environment,
but a haven of safety and security. I channeled
all my knowledge and experience into
finding a secure school.
I found a place that met my expectations,
for the most part. What I learned from the
experience is that a person should never take
security for granted. By August of this year,
I found a new school. What I learned is that
a secure building and enlightened staff offers
a more stable and comforting environment.
When my granddaughter was a baby,
I wanted to be able to look in remotely to
make sure she was being properly taken care
of. The first school had cameras in the classroom
and I could access the video from my
desktop or via smartphone, but the image
quality was so poor. I could barely see where
she was in the classroom. It drove me crazy.
Most of the time, when I delivered the
child to the school or picked her up after a
day at the office, the “secure” front door was
open. This drove me crazy.
I labored mightily about changing
schools, weighing the fact that my granddaughter
would have to change schools and
make new friends versus true security. I finally
made the change, but I waited far too long
to make that decision. At the top of my mind
was security, and it drove me crazy.
All this comes about because of an email
I received from the new school about a
“smash and grab” that had happened. The
school was warning people about the incident
so that we could all be on the lookout.
The first thing in my mind was this is security
and this is how it is supposed to work.
This incident was reported and school
officials were alerted of a possible security
breach. From there, all parents – or grandparents
in my case – were notified. Never take
security for granted. What really caught my
attention was the fact that the school does indeed
have a camera system in place and was
able to detect an image of the criminal — oh,
I mean alleged criminal — and by working
with their security integrator, they were
schooled in letting parents and staff know this
had occurred and the proper procedures are
in place to ensure the students are safe.
While it is true the thief only wanted to
steal money or items to sell, a school full of
children is no place to test security measures
already in place. Thanks to an astute security
integrator, security measures at the front
door of the school are always working. The
front door is always locked, and a person
cannot enter without the proper code and
without being seen by the staff. The idea is, if
they don’t know you, and you don’t have the
proper code, you’re not getting in.
Good security makes this grandpa very
happy. Bad security drives me crazy.
This article originally appeared in the January 2018 issue of Security Today.
About the Author
Ralph C. Jensen is the Publisher/Editor in chief of Security Today magazine.