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Security, safety and crime prevention critical for modern shopping centres

People do not shop where they do not feel safe. Security, safety and crime prevention are therefore critical elements for property developers and management in the design, construction and administration of modern shopping centres. “Both tenants and visitors to shopping centres need to see that security and crime prevention is a priority with management,” says Dr Bennie Coetzer, managing director of Thales Advanced Engineering, a manufacturer of high level electronic surveillance systems. “Visitors in particular, are reluctant to go where they do not feel secure.”

For property developers and management, the major issue is how to achieve discreetly visible and effective security that gives tenants and visitors peace of mind yet has minimal impact on shopping centre overheads.

Dr Coetzer says significant cost savings can be achieved by applying closed circuit television (CCTV) systems and technology in conjunction with a security guard service. "The cost of physical guarding services has risen quite astronomically in recent years. But costs can be reduced by applying CCTV technology in tandem with physical guarding services in a way that improves the efficiency of the overall security while minimising actual job losses.

"The application of CCTV creates job improvement opportunities for guards who, with appropriate training, can be deployed in more senior roles pertaining to the administration of the surveillance system."

Modern digital technology CCTV systems can revolutionise security at large shopping centres where some 150 cameras would be required on site. Capital cost with a full control room and 14-day digital image storage facilities for such a system would be in the region of R4-million.

A typical digital CCTV surveillance system control console

Purchasing decision drivers

"The decision to purchase should be driven by a number of factors and not merely the acquisition costs," says Dr Coetzer. "Digital CCTV systems achieve very high quality with exceptional reliability so that maintenance and service costs are minimised. The system also enables security management to make informed decisions regarding their reaction, which improves efficiency and reduces unnecessary costs.

"Fewer guards on foot are required and surplus guards can be trained and redeployed in CCTV system control and monitoring roles. Centre management also has the option to extend monitoring services to tenants at an increased rental. Liability and other insurance costs can be reduced as security risks are being well managed. These and other factors render the life cycle cost of ownership of digital CCTV systems very affordable with capital cost recovery achievable in two or three years as a result of efficiencies and savings."

The value of maintaining and increasing the visitor base for a shopping centre is inestimable and there is little doubt that efficient security keeps customers coming back and attracts new ones. This, says Dr Coetzer, is where the ability of the digital CCTV system to prevent crime and, in instances when a criminal act does take place, to apprehend and successfully prosecute the perpetrator, becomes so important.

Positive identification crucial

The positive identification of a criminal in the act is essential to successful prosecution and therefore the images captured and stored by the CCTV system need to be of high quality. According to Dr Coetzer, many CCTV systems, including digital systems, cannot provide camera views of this quality; it is only achievable with some systems.

"But it is not merely image quality that is so critical. To be effective, the system must also allow rapid retrieval of image evidence so that the security team on the ground can react immediately to any incident and either make an arrest or render assistance, depending on the incident type."

An example that illustrates the need for high quality images and speedy retrieval, is the girl who went into a shopping centre toilet with a bag and mistakenly left it there. When she returned a few minutes later to collect it, the bag was gone. She reported the incident to security personnel, who retrieved images recorded by cameras monitoring the passageway to the toilet. The girl was clearly shown entering the toilet with the bag and then leaving without the bag a few minutes later. Another person was seen entering the toilet and then departing with the bag left by the girl. This person was then identified on cameras elsewhere in the centre and followed by camera. When the person began to head for an exit, guards on the ground were alerted and apprehended the person leaving the centre. The bag was recovered with all contents intact.

"To achieve this kind of pro-active success, picture quality has to be top notch and image retrieval rapid. The speed of application and image quality required can only be achieved by digital systems. Pro-active security is the best security and it can also be enhanced by linking the CCTV system control room to a system of panic buttons installed in each shop.

"Tenants who observe suspicious people or activity press the panic button. The control room is then able to zoom appropriate cameras into the immediate area to close monitor it while at the same time directing a security presence on foot to the area. In a large centre there can be up to 50 panic button alarms a day and some of these turn out to be serious shoplifting incidents. In many of these cases the sudden beefing up of security presence prevents the crime being committed."

Evidential quality and storage

With digital CCTV, Dr Coetzer says live sequences of the event are recorded from the camera and securely stored for 14 days or longer as evidence. If prosecution is to take place, the images can be digitally stored for as long as 90 days. For longer periods alternatives are to download the images onto a videocassette recorder tape or create a video AVI on a CD. Both these methods have drawbacks in terms of quality loss.

However, Dr Coetzer says the day is not far off when it will be possible to store a data stream directly off-line for as long as it is required. "But even now, a good system streamlines the whole process and invariably results in successful prosecution. It is also possible to permanently store freeze-frames from camera sequences, providing an identification library of offenders. Security guards who recognise previous offenders can prevent them from entering the centre in terms of right of admission reserved."

The supportive role of CCTV

A major South African shopping centre receives some 24-million visitors a year, or 500 000 a month. With a conventional CCTV system in place and security guards on foot, the centre's security force made 608 arrests, or an average of 50 each month during the course of last year. The system also picked up 172 medical emergencies where visitors suffered a heart attack or stroke or were suddenly taken ill. Centre management was able to ensure that medical treatment and services were quickly rendered.

"With a state-of-the-art digital CCTV system, security at this shopping centre would have been able to apprehend and successfully prosecute many more offenders and make a tangible contribution to crime reduction."

While the main objective of CCTV systems is to prevent crime and, in instances where crime does occur, to make arrests on site or provide evidence that leads to later arrest, there are many other supportive roles.

"The cameras see everything and a skilled control room operator can detect other undesirable events such as the sale of stolen goods, drug trafficking and vandalism," says Dr Coetzer. "The cameras can also prove invaluable to shopping centre management in support of their disaster management plan and in the provision and direction of emergency services."

Dr Coetzer adds that a skilled, well-trained control room operator can detect suspicious body language and immediately direct foot guards to the area with the result that the heightened security presence prevents an incident or crime. For this to be possible, however, the CCTV system in the first instance must be capable of providing and recording the required high quality images.

"For this and other reasons it is important that the selection of a CCTV system takes fully into account the centre's management objectives regarding the protection of tenants and customers, the fact that the system is an integral part of a total management solution and, most importantly, that there is full understanding of the system specifications required to achieve the desired level of solution."

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