Semantics do matter when it comes to apartment complex security. While their duties and even their authority may be quite similar, there are a few significant differences.
An article from the website Fool.com notes,
Oftentimes, “courtesy officer” is a marketing euphemism of “security guard.” In other words, like a security guard, your apartment courtesy patrol officer is hired for the main purpose of providing security and helping maintain the quality of living in the community.
The implication here is that a courtesy officer provides a certain level of security and often does so for reduced rent at the apartment building they reside in.
According to a post at CrimeDoctor.com,
A “courtesy officer” is an apartment industry term that generally describes the title of a person that performs some visible protective service function on an apartment property after office hours. A courtesy officer can be a full or part-time employee of the apartment property.
Whether security personnel are “courtesy officers” hired by a security firm, or full-fledged, licensed security guards, they will be:
- Dressed in the security agency guard uniform;
- Wearing the security agency badge;
- Displaying the guard company patch logo affixed to the uniform shirt or hat;
- Filling out activity and incident forms on guard agency stationary;
- Using security agency equipment or marked vehicle;
- Supervised by the security guard agency
Regardless of whether your complex makes use of a courtesy office or a security guard company, odds are neither are trained specifically in apartment complex security issues and practices. In addition, there are potential issues with individuals calling in sick, quitting, or failing to show up for shifts.
Even reputable, professionally trained security personnel have inherent limitations when it comes to providing any sort of comprehensive security for your property and tenants.
Security personnel cannot be everywhere all the time. They can be threatened or even hurt by individuals when attempting to engage or intervene in an incident. And their limited capabilities mean the security they can provide is also limited, as a result.
Why Standard Security Practices Need to be Enhanced
Security for most commercial properties typically focuses on protecting property and mostly after business hours. Apartment complexes, on the other hand, require the security, safety, and protection of not only business property, but private property, and the safety of your tenants.
When the protection of people is involved, limitations such as those noted here means that only having security guards or courtesy patrols is not enough for apartment complex security.
The most obvious solution is the addition of video cameras for 24/7 security surveillance purposes. Cameras can be relied upon essentially without fail, do not fall asleep or show up late, and are not vulnerable to threats or intimidation. The mere presence of security cameras is a significant form deterrence of most acts of violence, theft, and vandalism.
However, there is a glaring deficiency in standard security camera systems. While they can record activity at a property in crisp, HD quality and color, often complete with audio, that’s all they can do. Although they can be placed in such a way as to cover every square foot of area of a property, they can only record criminal or dangerous events – they cannot prevent them.
This means that, too often, property owners and managers find themselves viewing an event after the fact, hoping to identify a perpetrator. More often, however, they can do little more than provide video footage to local police, if requested.
What would be far superior is a system that can interact with and engage individuals attempting to trespass, steal property, or commit some other criminal act in real-time.
This would involve a system that can intelligently analyze and assess each event and occurrence. It would be a system that incorporates both human intelligence from a remote site along with artificial intelligence to enhance the surveillance capabilities of existing video cameras.
This “smart” surveillance system is one that is already available from Blue Eye.
Comprehensive Security Solutions With Smart Surveillance
The enhancement of our AI software technology turns your security cameras into detection and breach sensors that allow your system to analyze and even anticipate threats. The result is a real-time, interactive surveillance system that uses advanced security and surveillance technology and transforms your video camera network into a stealth security system.
Blue Eye’s advanced, proprietary managed service platform provides state-of-the-art technology and performance that will provide your facility with a highly enhanced security network.
When a criminal threat or security breach is detected at your apartment complex, an alarm is immediately sent to our command center. There, our highly trained Video Surveillance Technicians (VSTs) respond to the threat in real-time by assessing the situation and taking appropriate action.
This action can range from broadcasting a verbal warning that is broadcast over a loudspeaker system, to calling the police or your contracted security service. In fact, using the direct audio system actually thwarts incidents almost 99 percent of the time. Consequently, we rarely need to dispatch the police.
With AI-enhanced video surveillance from Blue Eye, remote personnel safely maintain video monitoring in a secure environment, while having the ability to dispatch security or police to the property, if needed. By using both artificial and human intelligence, this approach allows for effective security solutions, all while utilizing the cameras you already have installed at your property.
If you would like to learn more about our unique approach to provide security for your site, call us at 855.258.3662 or email us at [email protected] and let us design an effective solution for your business!