Some thoughts on Cameras vs. Security Guards

Well perhaps that's a wee-bit of a dramatic title...it almost sounds like a fight.  While I admit to being biased based on the fact that I am the Vice President of Atlas Security Services, a security guard  provider...I will try to be objective.

It is entirely understandable that with today's economic times, organizations would look to save money any way possible.  The new camera technology combined with cheaper high speed internet makes camera coverage better and more affordable technology than ever before.  While wages and bill rates for guard services have remained fairly consistent over the past few years, a camera is  still cheaper... especially when run 24/7 as opposed to round-the-clock' security staffing.  With the new artificial intelligence, the surveillance  camera system software can even effectively interpret motion, sound alarms, alert remote monitoring stations, play messages over a loud speaker, turn on lights, etc. This makes them a real alternative in many ways.

So those are the pluses, what about the down side?  While it may be true that "CCTV" has come a long way, it still has its limitations. Can it hear glass breaking, can it smell smoke from a fire, can it get that "feeling" a good guard gets when someone or something "just isn't right", can it tell a slow driver from one who's "casing the joint"?  No of course not.  Can it help a customer, answer a phone, wave (or not wave as the case  may be) to the passing police vehicle to signal everything is OK, or not OK... as the case may be? No certainly not.  Can it be the visual deterrent that a guard in a sharp looking military style uniform is?  No, not at all.

Well where doe that leave us? Personally, I love the new camera technology, I'm a gadget guy at heart!  The new technology built into the current CCTV systems is amazing, and I think they are incredibly useful...in the right mix with PROFESSIONAL SECURITY PERSONNEL.  Just as you can't win a war with air power alone, and eventually you need "boots on the ground", the same is true in security.  While a state of the art camera setup with remote monitoring can perhaps reduce the number of guards slightly, the best deterrent and presence is a well trained human-being in the form of a Security Officer.  THEN when you combine that same security professional with the new CCTV technology, you get a synergistic effect, where the camera serves as a force multiplier...not just a person replacer' :)

As security professionals, what we should not be doing, is suggesting that cameras negate the need for guards...or vice-verse.  As security guard providers, or CCTV vendors when  we do either of those two things, we do a disservice to our clients.  The client should always come first, and would should make honest assessments and recommendations, based on more than sales numbers. A client with the right mix of technology and personnel, is the one most often best served in my opinion.  If you short change the client in either area, trouble is likely to ensue!

--
Scott Perry, VP
Atlas Security Services Inc.