Shopping Centre Safety

Shopping centres in the UK pull in millions of visitors yearly, some attract millions of visitors a week! For this reason keeping shopping centre visitors safe is crucial.

Terrorist attacks in the UK are sadly becoming more prevalent and crowded places like shopping centres are likely places to feature in the attack plans of terrorist organisations to maximise fatalities and casualties. It is important to remember that terrorism is a crime, so many of the security precautions that should normally be used to deter criminals will be effective in deterring terrorists. Making sure you have a good security regime is vital. This means that there should be 3 areas of security that should all be covered:

• Physical security
• Information security &
• Personnel security

Shopping centres review their security measures and rehearse security and contingency plans regularly to ensure that they remain accurate and workable up to date. The greatest vulnerability to any organisation is complacency. A shopping centre will have a security manager who will manage a security team.

Making sure the shopping centre has the most up to date security systems could potentially save lives not just valuables.

Access Control

Having access control keeps access points to a minimum and makes sure that the boundary between public and private areas of the shopping centre is secure. Investing in a good quality access control system that operates with magnetic swipe or contact proximity cards supported by PIN verification will ensure the access control is the securest possible.

Security Passes 

Members of staff should wear security passes at all times which should be controlled and reviewed regularly. Visitors to private areas should be escorted and should be issued with visitor passes that should be returned when leaving the building. Having security passes means that anyone not displaying a pass in private areas can be challenged immediately and even reported to security and management.

Integrated Security Systems

Intruder alarms, CCTV and lighting are commonly used to deter crime, detect offenders and delay their actions. Intruder alarms, CCTV and lighting must be integrated to work together as an effective security system, they as much a form of protection as they are deterrent.

A shopping centres intruder alarm must be compliant with the Association of Chief Police Officers’  (ACPO) security systems policy. Using a reputable security system installer who will be able to monitor your intruder alarm system remotely 24 hours a day will ensure the shopping centre is as safe as possible.

Using CCTV can help to determine if a security threat is real and is always crucial in post incident investigations. But CCTV footage can only be useful if the images are high enough quality to identify what happened, and to ensure faces and features can be made out. CCTV footage will not be useful and will not be useful in court if the footage is poor quality, not in colour or high enough resolution. It is vital to remember that CCTV is only effective if it is properly monitored and maintained. A useful feature of CCTV for public buildings with car parks is an Automatic Number Plate Reader (ANPR). CCTV cameras must be placed in all entrances and exits of shopping centres as well as all areas that are critical to safety management. Ideally there should be no camera black spots.

Thorne Access and Security Ltd installs and maintains retail security systems, designing bespoke security systems across to end users in many different sectors: from the leisure industry, hospitality industry, stadiums, educational organisations, retail industry, commercial properties as well as residential properties. Lancashire based Thorne Access and Security offers a full range of security services across all sectors including retail security. Thorne Access and Security based in Nelson, Lancashire, concentrate its security services across the North West of England, Lancashire and West Yorkshire. The CCTV installers integrate the latest access control and other electronic security systems to satisfied clients who are always happy to recommend Thorne’s services. Clients appreciate Thorne’s ‘small enough to care, big enough to cope’ ethos, cementing the security provider’s excellent reputation across the North West and beyond. Thorne’s service engineers are available 24/7.

For more information about Thorne Access and Security’s security services and security systems visit www.thorne.uk.com.