Keeping parking decks secure

Mar 1, 1998 12:00 PM, STEPHENIE SLAHOR

A building might have a glamorous entrance, but most of its users and visitors first see the parking lot or garage. And if they don't feel safe there, there will be damaged employee morale and loss of business. Beyond eerie feelings, the fact is one-fifth of all negligence-in-security cases involve parking incidents. Half of those cases have verdicts of more than $100,000 and 10 percent have verdicts of $1 million or more. Consider these suggestions: - Use metal bars or wire mesh instead of solid walls to increase visibility. Have glass-enclosed, not concrete, stairwells. Where solid doors are necessary, install large metal grates at eye level to increase visibility and audibility. - Lighting should be bright enough at least to recognize a face at about 40 feet. Never turn off all the lights even if the area is closed. Use photo cells (not timers) to control parking lot lights, and house lights in heavy, recessed fixtures to prevent vandalism. Paint the walls, floor and ceiling white to make everything brighter. - Employees with the same times of arrival and departure should park in one area so that "safety in numbers" keeps the arriving/departing group safer. - Closed-circuit TV monitors in parking attendant booths let attendants observe. Record the monitors. - Use anti-passback delays (two minutes or so) on entrance gates to prevent a user from using a parking pass and then handing it to another driver. - Don't designate parking slots for particular people. Designated slots for the "president" or "general manager" are the targets of vandals or disgruntled workers or customers. - Keep records on the time, location and nature of all parking lot incidents even if no formal report is made. - Do bicycle patrols of the parking area to enhance security. - Clearly mark security patrol vehicles and equip them with two-way radios, booster cables and lock jocks. - Use signs to direct traffic flow, to indicate the way to and the location of alarms, and to caution about leaving valuables in the car. - Meet with the police to learn what is happening in the neighborhood and to work on crime-control measures.

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