Every year, millions of businesses in the U.S. are burglarized.
As a commercial property owner, it’s important for you to take steps to ensure the facilities you oversee are not part of this group. In order to do this, you need to have a carefully constructed security plan in place.
If you’ve never put together a commercial security plan, or if you just want to make sure you’re covering all your bases, keep reading.
Explained below is everything you need to know about creating an effective commercial security plan for your properties.
Address Specific Security Concerns
The first step you need to take when creating a commercial security plan is to think about the specific security concerns you have for your facilities.
Have specific businesses received threats in the past? Have there been break-ins or attempted break-ins? Have your properties been vandalized?
Has your facility, specifically, been affected, or was another facility in the area victimized?
Are some of the business owners who occupy your facilities dealing with more security threats more often than other industries? Are your properties located in areas that are more vulnerable to crime than others?
The more you know about the specific threats that face your facilities, the easier it’ll be to create a plan that addresses each of them appropriately.
Know Your Security Options
You should be aware of the different security options available to you, too. The following are some of the most well-known and effective options you might want to consider:
- Hiring security guards
- Installing indoor/outdoor security cameras
- Installing an alarm system
Keep in mind that you don’t just have to choose one of these options. By incorporating several options into your security plan, you can make sure your facilities are protected at all times.
Consider Facility Size
When you’re deciding what kinds of security measures you want to put in place, it’s important to think about the size of your facilities.
This includes more than just the physical size of your facilities. You also need to factor in the size of your staff, the number of customers who visit your facilities each day, and the volume of products you’re handling each day.
A small facility with two staff members and minimal square footage will likely not need the same level of protection as a massive corporation with thousands of employees.
The bigger your facilities are, the more complex your security needs will probably be.
Consider Potential Growth
Don’t just think about the size of your facilities right now. Think about how much you expect it to grow in the future.
Do you plan to rent space to more business owners? Expand the size of a facility?
Your commercial security plan should fit your current needs, but it should also grow and evolve along with you and your business goals. Remember, security needs are not static.
Know When You Need Protection
Are your facilities open 24/7, or are they only open for eight or nine hours during the day?
Develop your security plan around your facilities’ operating hours so you can ensure there’s always a pair of eyes on things even when none of the workers or managers are around.
There are lots of security options you can utilize depending on your hours of operation.
Maybe you can rely on security cameras and an alarm system during business hours but you want a security guard available in the evenings. Maybe you want a security guard around on the weekends when the facilities are mostly empty.
Think back to your specific needs and assess when your facilities are the most vulnerable. Then, adjust your security plan accordingly.
Know What Needs Protecting
Are there certain aspects of your facilities that need more protection than others? Do you want to make sure the safe and cash register are guarded at all times?
When you’re figuring out where you want cameras located or where you want security guards stationed, be sure to consider the most valuable aspects of your facilities and what needs the greatest level of protection.
Introduce Policies to Staff Members
It’s not enough for just you and your security guards to be aware of your security plan. You need to make sure that employees and managers who work in your facilities are familiar with the plan, too.
Make sure your plan includes policies to hold employees accountable as well. This might include the following policies:
- A clean desk policy that ensures all valuable documents and equipment are stored away at the end of the day
- A chain of possession policy that ensures all deliveries get directly to the recipient (no packages should be left at the front desk or outside the facility)
- ID badge/access card policies to prevent unauthorized individuals from entering certain parts of the facility
If you’ve never implemented policies like this before, they might seem cumbersome. Over time, though, people will get used to and accept them, especially if you emphasize their importance for overall facility safety.
Test and Assess Your Plan
Finally, make sure you’re testing and assessing your security plan on a regular basis.
Once the plan is in place, hold regular meetings to talk about its impact and whether it seems to be effective. Use these meetings as an opportunity to field concerns and brainstorm ways to improve the plan, too.
Remember, security plans need to evolve with your properties. These assessment meetings play a key role in making sure that happens.
Put Your Commercial Security Plan into Action
Now that you know what’s involved in creating a commercial security plan, it’s time to get to work developing a plan and putting that plan into action.
Keep these guidelines in mind and you’ll have a much easier time creating and implementing an effective plan that keeps your facilities secure.
Do you need to hire security guards for your facilities? If so, contact us at OPS Security Group today.
We offer both residential and commercial security guard services and currently serve the people of Philadelphia, Jersey City, Baltimore, DC, and Wilmington, as well as those located in the surrounding areas.