Why should parking lot security and safety be a priority? Across the United States, parking lots rank number three in violent crimes. More than one in 10 property crimes happen in parking lots or garages. That’s about 1,400 incidents happening in car dealerships, retail storefronts, and commercial parking lots all over the U.S. every day.
As a property owner, it’s your responsibility to keep your parking lot safe. If your property becomes known as a place where violent crime occurs or parked cars are regularly burgled or damaged, that could turn away customers. How can you keep your property and the people on it safer?
Parking lot and parking garage security systems can help you address issues of safety and ensure that your property is a place where people feel safe to visit and park their cars. In this blog, we’ll look at how solutions like security cameras for parking lots are invaluable investments for any business owner.
Parking Lot Safety Tips and Garage Security Solutions
Crimes that occur on your property are a liability for your business – not legally speaking, but in terms of public image. Some enhancements you can consider to maximize parking lot safety include:
With the exception of onsite security guards, these security features don’t provide proactive security. Nor do fences or phones capture information that can help you apprehend the criminal perpetrator. And onsite guards can be very expensive to retain around the clock, 365 days a year.
Because of these challenges; businesses like apartments, shopping centers, office parks, and parking lot companies are adding live video monitoring into their parking lot security strategies. There are a number of advantages to using tools like modern, advanced parking garage security cameras.
The Advantages of Modern Parking Lot Surveillance Cameras
While older analog CCTV cameras were hard-wired, newer security cameras for parking lots and other businesses connect wirelessly to the Internet and record data straight into the cloud. They can be equipped with solar panels and long-term batteries. They can even be weather-hardened to make them less vulnerable to power outages or outdoor disruption.
Modern parking lot and garage security cameras can be programmed to trigger an audio alert to deter criminals. The software automates responses when certain rule-based protocols are breached.
Intruders or criminals might hear a loud, booming voice that warns them they have been seen and the authorities are on the way. It might be accompanied by bright lights and piercing sirens. That’d deter most malicious actors from ever committing a crime! When these alarms are triggered, the camera system alerts trained security professionals that there is a parking garage security issue that needs addressing.
You can enhance your video monitoring parking lot solution with:
Parking lots often have quite a bit of activity, so having an outdated alarm system may not work as well as a truly modern parking lot safety system. You don’t want alarms going off every time someone slams a car door!
Supplement Your Parking Lot Security with Virtual Guards
Virtual guard security services can help ameliorate this problem by adding human judgment to the mix. This works by feeding the video surveillance footage over a wireless network straight to a security guard in a remote location who can determine if the activity is harmful or benign. Is this person being held up in a parking lot, or is it two people who seem to be friendly with each other?
The best parking garage security systems equip real humans with the right tools to make this judgment call.
These parking lot solutions can help resolve legal disputes if there’s an accident or damage to a car on your property. This can minimize any legal headaches in addition to protecting your customers, employees, and property.
State-of-the-art security cameras for parking lots are equipped with the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) software. Smart AI cameras may someday be able to identify if a car “belongs to” someone. While we’re not there yet, today’s AI-driven cameras can analyze enormous amounts of data, make decisions about threat levels, and respond to things that, in the past, would have required human intelligence.
For example, you can install perimeter defense cameras that use AI analytics to create a virtual fence line around your parking lot. These parking lot security cameras can detect the difference between a false alarm, such as a stray cat, and the shape of a human being prowling in an area where they shouldn’t be. The camera can then automatically:
These cameras also offer video categorization features that enable easy searches for footage, making it easy to find what you’re looking for fast.
If you are the business owner of a business with a parking lot, security must be a big concern. Selecting video surveillance as your go-to parking lot security tool is an important way to reduce any potential legal headaches and keep your customers safe. Customers and employees will see your parking lot security cameras and feel more secure — and having a secure parking lot might even help attract some new business. Criminals will see them and know you’ve taken steps to protect your business.
Pro-Vigil offers leading-edge AI-enabled video surveillance systems to protect your business, including security cameras for parking lots and parking garages. When you’re ready for a comprehensive solution for parking lot security, talk with our team.
