Residential and commercial security Essay

In order to ensure the safety of residents, homes, and businesses

It is crucial to conduct a residential and commercial security evaluation that looks at the buildings, outside perimeter, property, threats, risks, and vulnerabilities that may exist. Technical, cybersecurity, and physical security methods for the homes may all be part of a thorough residential security assessment. As a result, the evaluation includes information on system technology like cameras, alarms, and monitoring as well as physical security aspects like fencing, gates, windows, and hardware. It also covers emergency preparation with an emphasis on room safety. A threat evaluation is a crucial thorough analysis and review of the security and safety of an organizational function when it comes to the business security assessment. The assessment gives a point of reference and a plan for mitigating threats in the future. As such, it will be critical to evaluate security for one residential (Palos Verdes Estates) and one commercial location (CIP Group Inc.). This will be coupled with an identification of problems and a possible solution as well as a comparison of their differences.

Residential Security Assessment

Crime Measure

Palos Verdes Estates is one of the residential areas in California, United States, with 62.9% white, 1.3% African-American, 26.7% Asian, and 5.3% Latino residents. The first thing one can notice next to most of the house in this place is the warning signs that are displayed around the perimeters of the homes and property aimed to warn intruders. The focus is to reduce the opportunity for crimes. As such, several homes have appropriate signs, such as 'this property is under electronic surveillance.' Furthermore, many houses have intruder systems to enhance the residents' physical security of the home. According to the Palos Verdes Police Department, the country has experienced a 87% reduction in crime which means that intruder alarm systems have been effective, as they alert the police and the security organization when intrusions occur (Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, 2014). As a result, there has been a considerable reduction in crimes, particularly gang-related activities in the area. Most of the systems cover the houses and garages.

However, the above-mentioned measures are not enough to reduce crime in the area. According to statistics that covered the rate of Palos Verdes Estates crimes that were recently released, this is a residential area with an overall crime rate of about 13 people per 1,000 residents, making the crimes rate close to average throughout the United States. An analysis of FBI crime data indicates that the chance of an individual become a victim of crime is 1 in 76 people. The rate indicates that Palos Verdes Estates is in a slightly better position compared to other residential locations in California owing to the crimes being reduced by approximately 83% (Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, 2014). When compared with other communities with a similar size of population, Palos Verdes Estates has a noticeably lower crime rate.

According to the NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI crime rates, this area is safer than most residences. The assessment from the report included data from FBI gathered from 18,000 law enforcement agencies and encompassed a combination of property and violent crimes (Gill, 2016). According to the findings of the analysis, violent crimes are well below the national average level for Palos Verdes Estates as compared to all communities of same population size in California. Crimes like murder, rape, assault and robbery occur less often in Palos Verdes Estates than in most other areas in America. The chance of an individual encountering a violent crime is 1% per 1,000 inhabitants (Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, 2014). At the same time, the rate of property crime in Palos Verdes Estates that may involve larceny, burglary, grand theft auto, and arson is 13% per 1,000 persons. It is indicated that this is above average when the data is compared with other towns and cities in America with similar sizes. In particular, these cases arise from gang-related activities.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a crime prevention theory that focuses on effective and tactical use of the built environment, which implies reducing both fears of crime and crime. It includes components such as physical security, movement control, surveillance, defensible space, and maintenance and management of the habitat.

Physical security

This refers to the measures used to ensure residents can withstand attacks. Noticeable physical securities include walls, windows, and doors. Most homes in Palos Verdes Estates have defense systems which include locks, construction, security procedures, landscape, and active defenses such as alarms, security personnel, and detection systems. Special attention is given to the quality and strength as well as installation of the doors and locks. Some of the doors have double cylinder deadbolts near the windows. Similarly, more attention is given to all the windows to ensure that attackers can not easily pry them. As such, most residents in the area keep their landscaping away from windows and doors or trimmed short to avoid concealing an attacker or intruder (McKinnon & Tallam, 2003). This is also carried out to ensure visibility of the street. As noted above, Palos Verdes Estates houses have alarm systems coupled with motion detectors to augment the window and door physical security.

Surveillance

Apart from electronic surveillance, most houses in the residences of Palos Verdes Estates are designed in such a way that residents can observe all the areas surrounding their homes. This is facilitated by making sure that doors face the street and that the territory is well-illuminated. Also, the area has security lighting installed in many home perimeters to provide efficient illumination at night.

Movement control

The movement control refers to the restricting access. The Palos Verdes Estates encourages the residents to report individuals who seem suspicious. This is augmented by neighborhood watch programs which involve watch guards. However, although security personnel programs are common in this residential area, they are mostly used in more affluent locations to offer protection in those zones (Grealy et al., 2008). At the same time, residents of Palos Verdes Estates work to develop a cooperative relationship with their neighbors. The area and streets are well-light during the nights to discourage criminal activities and surveillance from unknown persons.

Defensible space

Ownership of space characterizes Palos Verdes Estates in the neighborhoods as being aimed at clearly defining the different homes. For example, there are pavements, front garden, and rear garden. Furthermore, there is some distance between the outer perimeters of the homes and the residence (Gill, 2016). Some houses have an additional wall or a fence to delineate the yard from the rest of the property. However, since this is a packed urban environment, there are only a few feet between the outer wall of the house and the property line.

Problem Sampling

Based on the above analysis for Palos Verdes Estates, it is evident that this residential area can be considered safe for its inhabitants. However, the area faces considerable problems arising from less serious gang-related crimes that cannot be ignored. There are increased cases of burglaries which involve rear yard entries through unlocked gates, followed by window smashing with jewelry being the most commonly stolen items (Grealy et al., 2008). Many of these gang teams are involved with Los Angeles gang groups. As such, the area has a gang problem in the traditional sense, as some of the burglaries happen outside the streets.

Solutions

Law Enforcement

According to the California Attorney Office, Palos Verdes Estates is one of the areas that has benefited from gang injunctions. This refers to an order given by court directed to cause specific acts or restrain individuals from performing the acts. The orders are civil lawsuits for complaints that arise from residents of a particular geographical location where there are crimes committed by gangs. There are various ways gang injunctions are enforced to reduce incidences of gang crime. First, this is achieved by employing gang detectives in the city of California who focus on murder-related cases (O'Deane, 2011). Second, the source indicates that there is coordination between the Office of the Mayor and other partner agencies as well as community groups.

The aim is to bring continuity, consistency, and cohesion to the gang-related activity reduction. The concerned individuals are endowed with a responsibility to divulge names of gangs involved in crimes and exposing their behavior. To enhance the intended purpose of gang injunctions, the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department (2013) notes that there has been the implementation of community safety operations that combine the enforcement ability of the civil law and the advocacy of involved community members. The Palos Verdes Estates Police Department is working with detectives and task forces as well as other agencies to manage the cases (O'Deane, 2011). Since the program was launched in 2006, there has been approximately a 46% reduction in criminal cases. The data demonstrates a progressive improvement with 14% of identified gang members being arrested every year. Furthermore, authors demonstrate that the gang injunction has been successful in jurisdictions that have employed them.

O'Deane (2011) argues that the California injunction has had a different degree of efficiency. The author also notes that it has demonstrated a positive impact in most of the neighborhoods in California. This is because the gang injunction helps to address the varied dynamic resulting from gang groups by disrupting their activity in the designated places (O'Deane, 2011). The way the orders are enforced further affects the manner in which gang members react to them. As such, this is important for law enforcers because it assists them in fighting crimes caused by the groups.

Business Security Assessment

Physical Security

CIP Group Inc. is a well-known commercial organization located in New York. It is one of the cities with a huge number of commercial locations, especially in the central business district. The New York City promotes general deterrence to theft to frustrate thieves from committing crimes. The New York Police Department ensures that robbers and thieves are charged accordingly to make other people with similar intentions refrain from planning attacks on any commercial building, including CIP Group Inc. property (Megan, 2015). The New York City uses larceny to describe theft law. This can occur when a person wrongfully obtains or withholds property from its rightful owner. Therefore, general deterrence is enforced by criminal penalties for larceny.

Building Access

The building has a strong, secure perimeter with a limited number of access points into the building. This is coupled with the monitoring of people and vehicles that can access the place. Also, the place had heightened security measures in locations containing sensitive items and operational equipment as well as documents. At the same time, the building is equipped with intruder alarm systems to augment CIP Group Inc. physical security. All the non-public areas are subject to accessibility using electronic or physical control systems depending on the nature of the area of the building (Megan, 2015). Access is not only limited to outer entrance, but also internally, especially the restricted areas. All entrance points are staffed with receptionists or security personnel. Also, visitors are not given access cards and they are always escorted from the entry points. However, according to statistics from the NYPD, thieves have been known to cut telephones lines to prevent alarms going off to avoid being noticed by the police or the security monitoring organization (New York Police Department, 2015).

Additionally, the physical protection of the various sections of the building is designed according to the level of potential risk that can happen there. This is because the levels of risk vary from one location to another based on the level of the current local criminal activities and the nature of the content as well as other threats. The boundaries of the building include walls or fences, depending on the nature of the site. At the same time, some locations have multiple entry exit points which seem like the first line of defense against unauthorized intrusion in the company (Collier & Lakoff, 2008). This also defines the legal boundaries of CIP Group Inc. property. The security design further includes landscaping, lighting, and perimeter alarms. However, the organization lacks good landscaping to encourage sufficient visibility of the perimeter of the building. There are several overgrowing plants on the territory that may conceal an intruder.

Also, it is critical to note that all vehicles that enter the organization are stopped and inspected before being allowed to proceed inside the perimeter. This is coupled with bomb searches performed on all automobiles and after being declared clear, the drivers are allowed to park not far from the building (Collier & Lakoff, 2008). However, this presents a challenge to the later protocol and is not always followed and, therefore, can present a considerable risk to the company.

Private Security

CIP Group ensures that there is the security of information by overseeing limited access to confidential data. Materials deemed to be sensitive, including confidential records, are suitably secured and information technology security is maintained through encryption of data and use of passwords which are changed regularly to restrict access to staff (Bush, 2002). As such, the organization is putting a lot of effort into securing proprietary information, both physical and computer files. Similarly, employees are frequently trained to reinforce security and safety of procedures of the business. CIP Group Inc. has clear policies that act as a guide to issues like shoplifting, cash handling, and dealing with aggressive individuals. In addition, employees are encouraged to report suspicious events or activities as well as people seen around the area to the security guards and the New York Police Department (Grealy et al., 2008). To further enhance privacy security, possession of control keys is closely monitored by the management. All the key holders are listed together with the type of key they were provided with as well as the areas that they can access.

Sampling Problems

From the analysis, it has been identified that CIP Group Inc. faces vulnerability because the thieves in New York City have been known to cut telephones lines to prevent the alarms from working and, therefore, they can avoid being noticed by the police or the security monitoring organizations. At the same time, the company does not have sufficient landscaping which means it lacks visibility of its perimeter. The building has several trees growing close to the windows which are not trimmed. Another problem stems from the fact that security guards are not paying enough attention to the locations of where individuals park their vehicles.

Solutions to these Problems

For the company to deal with the issue of telephone lines being cut by thieves, it is imperative to have all the telephones pre-programmed to the emergency number and local police for quick references. Also, those lines should be secured with appropriate locks to prevent unlawful tampering (New York Police Department, 2015). CIP Group Inc. can also install a security alarm system to the telephones to monitor intruders. It would be fundamental to consider a supplementary system such as GSM (global satellite mobiles to transmit an alarm signal). The firm can also consider adding a duress facility into the structure of the system to allow staff to activate it manually in case of an emergency. Furthermore, all the trees growing close to the windows should be trimmed to ensure that the premise is visible and that nothing can conceal the intruders (New York Police Department, 2015). Finally, to facilitate stringent entry and parking in the organization's premises, there should be policies that stipulate consequences of not following securing standards.

Differences between Residential and Business Security Assessments

One of the major differences identified between Palos Verdes Estates and CIP Group Inc. is that residential security assessment does not involve many details as compared to the business risk evaluation. There are more components that should be examined when conducting commercial security assessments because an organization involves a lot more structures and systems than a regular home. Furthermore, the CIP Group is a corporate company that has an extensive integration of security systems, as there is always a need for optimum situational awareness and involvement of all the parties working for the firm.

Conclusion

Indeed, security assessment for residential and commercial premises is important, as it helps to identify threats, risks, and vulnerabilities that can be used to launch an attack. It has been identified that a secure building is a wise choice of housing, as living in such a home provides a considerable degree of seclusion and public access to the building is limited. Also, the quality of the security system should be taken into account because the risk of living near potentially high-value targets can lead to an inadvertent attack. The first step in performing a security assessment is to carry out a facility characterization to identify the home's or the organization's operating conditions. The step entails providing a thorough description of the premise and an identification of physical protection features. The next step encompasses determination of threats, risk sources, and vulnerabilities to estimate the likelihood of malicious people or criminals attacking the place. After identification of all the threats, the final step is the development of contingency and mitigation recommendations to ensure that there are no loopholes. This is the same process that must be followed for both Palos Verdes Estates and CIP Group Inc.

References

Bush, G.W. (2002). The national security strategy of the United States of America. Executive Office of the President Washington, DC.

Collier, S.J., & Lakoff, A. (2008). Distributed preparedness: The spatial logic of domestic security in the United States. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 26(1), 7-28.

Gill, M. (Ed.). (2016). Crime at work vol.1: Studies in security and crime prevention. Journal of International Economic Review, 10(1), 1-21.

Grealy, J., Kaplan, H., Hoover, S., Security World Publishing Co, Inc, & United States of America. (2008). Crime prevention through environmental design. Security World, 15(9), 57-60.

McKinnon, A.C., & Tallam, D. (2003). Unattended delivery to the home: An assessment of the security implications. Journal of Trade & Distribution Management, 31(1), 30-41.

Megan, B., (2015). Rancho Palos Verdes to explore hiring private security to patrol popular hiking trails. Retrieved from http://www.dailybreeze.com/lifestyle/20151021/rancho-palos-verdes-to-explore-hiring-private-security-to-patrol-popular-hiking-trails

New York Police Department. (2015). Major crimes in New York City, 2009-2015. Retrieved from http://data.newsday.com/long-island/data/crime/new-york-city-crime-rate/

O'Deane, M.D. (2011). Gang injunctions and abatement: Using civil remedies to curb gang-related crimes. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.

Palos Verdes Estates Police Department (2014). Crime rates for Palos Verdes Estates. Retrieved from https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/palos-verdes-estates/crime/#description