Parking Garage Security: Protecting Customers And Employees

Although parking facilities are designed and built as a necessity rather than a primary destination, they need adequate parking security solutions. Of course, you need sufficient parking space to attract visitors and accommodate employees, but the security of that space has long term implications. If people fear that their cars will be broken into and their valuables stolen, it will harm the reputation of your business in direct and indirect ways. If employees have laptops and important documents stolen, that is a direct harm to your business. Crimes like robbery, assault, and vandalism are all less likely to happen if you install a proper security system and take precautions.

As with any security system, its success depends on functioning layers of technology, strategy, and diligence.

Commercial parking garages tend to be low-tech from a structural standpoint. It’s a lot of concrete and paint, right? That’s also why it requires extra forethought to integrate your security system into the design of the garage. Here are some of the technological components that should be included in any parking garage security system.

If you require authorized access to your parking garage, such as paid or permitted parking, then you need to monitor points of access and exit using kiosks and swingarms or barriers. By requiring people to take a ticket or scan their access badge, you can monitor who is using the garage and when. This can help you flag unusual behavior such as someone who normally parks according to a schedule and suddenly changes that pattern.

Most parking garages need to accommodate regular traffic and visitor traffic. So it’s a good idea to build your garage and access control system in a way that allows you to restrict certain areas for permitted parkers and allow guests to park with minimal inconvenience.

Access control can also help you with managing parking capacity. Especially for multi-story garages, or locations with large fluctuations in car traffic, it’s beneficial to let drivers know quickly if the garage has any open spaces remaining.

Covering the entire parking garage with video surveillance cameras isn’t cost-effective or necessary. It is crucial to install them at the entrance, exit, stairwells, elevators and top level. Thankfully, with the latest camera technology and power-over-ethernet structured cables, you only need a single cable to carry power and signal from far-flung cameras to the main control center.

Covering an area with light is an excellent way to reduce the risk of crime or unauthorized behavior. It also makes your security cameras more effective. Once again, in the interest of cost-efficacy, you don’t need to fully light every square foot of your parking garage. But you should cover all entrances, exits, stairwells, elevators, and traffic corridors. Consider installing motion-activated and ambient-light activated sensors to cut down on energy usage.

Much as you hope they will never get used, it’s important to install emergency call-boxes at strategic points throughout the parking garage. These stations are designated by a bright blue light. You may even be able to combine these call boxes with surveillance cameras to provide better visibility when someone uses them.

These stations aren’t just for someone who is being threatened or in a health emergency, they can also be used if someone has a dead battery or flat tire. Parking garages are notorious for poor cellphone reception, so visitors and employees need a guaranteed way to communicate with security personnel.

While the concrete parking garage might not be the most flammable thing on your campus, the vehicles inside are shockingly so (if you’ve ever seen a car fire or tried to put one out, you know how bad it is). A fire suppression system is a baseline requirement for the garage, in addition, you should also place regular fire extinguishers and make them easy to find.

Your parking garage should feel like a safe place that people can feel confident using. The design choices you make when installing your security system will do a lot to determine how people feel.

A visible security camera is a proven crime deterrent. But the more visible your security measures are, the more clear it is to visitors that you take security seriously and have their best interests at heart. This is most important in the case of emergency call-boxes, but it can apply to other measures as well, such as regular security patrols.

Manpower is a constraint for security teams everywhere. By installing a state-of-the-art security system with cameras that are connected to your main network, you can employ remote monitoring to keep an eye on the garage from a control center that monitors other areas as well.

The need for a parking garage is dependent on traffic to your location. It’s a good idea to analyze traffic patterns and project the visitor and employee traffic that you expect. This will help you accommodate everyone’s parking needs. Insufficient parking can lead to additional accidents (because people are constantly driving through the building looking for spots) and frustrated drivers in general.

Traffic analysis may also help you identify times when you need to take extra precautions or adjust access to the garage.

Small measures such as white paint and reflective surfaces can help break up the monotony of the garage, increase overall visibility and keep drivers safer. An experienced parking garage architect or engineer can help you implement design choices that add a lot of value without a lot of cost.

Hiring an outside consultant to perform a security audit is a good way to ensure that your security system is working as intended. It can also reveal opportunities to upgrade outdated systems and improve the experience for your visitors and employees.

i.e.Smart Systems is a Houston, TX based technology integration partner that specializes in design and installation of audio/visual technology and structured cabling. For more than three decades, our team of in-house experts has partnered with business owners, architectural firms, general contractors, construction managers, real estate developers, and designers in the Houston market, to deliver reliable, scalable solutions that align with their unique goals.