2817 E. Central Wichita, KS 67217 (316) 264-1177 (877) 388-1177
Anatomy of a Burglary: Posted 8/25/2010
Five minutes! That is how long it takes an average residential burglary to occur, start to finish. Within that five minutes you can expect costly property damage to your home and untold loss of valuables and other property as well as irreplaceable items of sentimental value that, realistically, you’ll probably never see again. Sometime between the hours of 8:00 am and 3:00pm while most hard working people are at work a car backs into your driveway. Two people get out and proceed to either: A)kick in your front door. B) Break a window or C) smash a rear patio door, and gain entry to your home. If you have a burglar alarm system it is now screaming its siren. Your neighbors don’t hear it because they to are at work. If they are at home, they’ll probably disregard it as another false alarm, since the siren will silence in about thirty seconds or less. Why? Because most home alarm systems are installed in a generic fashion with the junction box (not the keypad) that supplies power to the system installed inside of a closet or garage and is easily disabled. Burglars know this and can find this junctions box in seconds.
If you have the added feature of 24 hour monitoring by your alarm company, they’ve probably detected activation at your residence and have started the protocol for attempting to verify if the activation is an actual emergency or another false alarm. Meanwhile, the burglars have gone though your bedroom and collected all of the jewelry, cash and other valuables and piled it near the front door and are now disconnecting your computer, VCR or DVD player, stereo and even your microwave oven and have started stacking this items near the front door as well.
If it hasn’t been stolen yet, your phone rings as the alarm company attempts to contact you in regard to the alarm activation so that you can give the codeword and confirm that the activation was, indeed, another false alarm. (Did you know that the monitoring center for your alarm company is likely not even in your state? It’s true.)
By now the burglars are in your kitchen helping themselves to a cold soft drink and other contents of our refrigerator. A little break, before hauling all of your stuff to their car.
When the alarm company doesn’t get a response to their call attempts, they wil usually hang up and reconfirm the number they called and attempt a second call.
Now the burglars have loaded up their car and are pulling out of your driveway.
After several more minutes and perhaps a third call attempt, the alarm company contacts the police to report an “unconfirmed”break-in at your address. The police dispatch a patrol unit to your home. Depending on their current call volume it could be as little as ten minutes or as long as an hour or more before and officer actually arrives at your home. By now the burglars are long gone and have probably already fenced your property or traded it for drugs.
The police will likely tell you that there isn’t much they can do without any suspect information. They will write a report and give you a copy to submit to your insurance company. (If you are insured) Your chances of recovering your property are slim to none. If you have serial numbers of the items taken your chances for recovery are a little better, but not much. Police recover most stolen property by luck or accident when investigating other crimes, police simply don’t have the time or manpower to investigate the number of property crimes that occur unless they have some idea of who to look for or other investigative lead.
In a month or two, assuming you have replaced the items stolen previously, the burglars may likely return to steal your new belongings and get away with it. A video surveillance system in and around your home can record thieves in the act, on tape providing the police with an investigative tool to use to identify persons and or vehicles involved in the crime against you and dramatically increases your odds of recovering your property. In addition, a videotape of the crime is the best evidence for prosecuting and convicting those who have victimized you.
DON’T BE A VICTIM, TAKE ACTION BEFORE THIS IS YOUR STORY.
Posted 9/24/10
Risk Management Statistics
The failure of forty percent (40%) of U.S. businesses is directly linked to employee theft.
Fraud and abuse costs U.S. organizations more than $400 billion annually.
In the retail industry in 2001, 60% to 70% of total losses were due to proven employee theft.
The average organization loses more then $9.00 per day per employee to fraud and abuse.
The average organization loses about 6% of its total annual revenue to fraud and abuse committed by its own employees.
The Insurance Institute of America indicated, 65% to 75% of all merchandise losses come from inside stealing by employees.
The owner of a major restaurant chain recently stated, “two out of three of our employees steal on a regular basis”.
The most costly cases of fraud and abuse occur in organizations with less than 100 employees.
Employee theft cost U.S. retailers $14.9 billion in 2001.
Honest employees stole $160 billion last year by wasting time on the job.
Background screening revealed more that 40 million Americans used fraudulent resumes or false statements on job applications to obtain a job.
Background screens on pre-employment and current employees revealed 75% had an undisclosed criminal history.
Your employees are 20 time more likely to steal from you than your customers.
The typical perpetrator of theft form an employer is a college-educated white male.
While any employee at any time is theoretically capable or committing a theft from their employer, it is interesting to note that the average tenure of employment of those caught for theft from their employer is nine years.It is thought that many long term employees decide that they are under paid and unappreciated and therefore feel justified in the theft.
Losses caused by managers are four times those caused by hourly employees.
Median losses caused by executives are 16 times those of their employees.
A recognized authority on security in the supermarket and food industry states that “76% of all employees steal”.
Where Risk is found
Employee Theft – 46%
Customer Theft – 30.6%
Administrative error – 17.6%
Vendor Fraud – 5.8%
This is a list of a few facts pertaining to losses at companies in the Unites States
What can a business owner or manager do to protect their company
Know who works for you, with pre-employment background screenings.
Utilize closed circuit television (CCTV).Covertly for employee and overly for customer theft and fraud.
Utilize investigative and security services, to deter theft and investigate when theft has been detected.
Prosecute to the fullest extent of the law when a theft has been proven.
Never count any employee out as a suspect.
Posted 10/24/2010
When hiring a security or investigative company, a few things you might want to check on, because a pretty web site does not make a business legal or good at what they do: First are they licensed to provide the service they are selling you? Are they insured? Do they have real references that have listed phone numbers or addresses that you can verify, not just a bunch of names and pictures that you can’t contact? If they are selling you a tactical assault team with two helicopters’, don’t you think you would have heard a lot more about them before they showed up selling you a bill of goods? If they do not have a local office for you to visit them at then you should be concerned about them being legitimate. I know that it sounds cool when they say do to security issues their office has to remain a secret. The location is secrete because when they fail to provide the contracted services that you paid for, you wont be able to find them. Remember if it sounds far fetched, it is.
I have been in this industry for more than twenty four years and my biggest frustration is with the security or investigative company that is less than reputable. If you want your assets or family protected, I would hope you go shopping for the most reliable, dependable, professional and experienced company you can find. Not the cheapest company that you have never heard of. If you do not check out the company before you hire them, then you will get exactly what you paid for; nothing but liability. I have listed some resources for you to use to check on a perspective company, use them, you will be glad that you did.
Smart Security and Investigations, Inc. has spent the last ten years raising the standards of the security and investigative industry through training and licensing and continuing education regulations. However, as with any industry, new companies pop up all the time. Without the public informing the appropriate agency these unlicensed and un-insured companies provide false promises and bad service to the community, giving the industry as a whole a bad name.
Bruce Reesman
President/CEO, SSI, Inc.
Private investigation verification at the KBI web site www.accesskansas.org/kbi/
Security licensing at the Law Enforcement Training Center (316) 660-3824
If they are claiming to be a Law Enforcement officer then why are they selling you security or investigative services instead of doing Law Enforcement?
What is Private Security
History
of private security: In the early 1600’s, the American colonies
used old English security practices brought with them to the new world. The chief security concerns in the American
colonies were the Indians. To meet the
Indian security threat, the American colonists used the old manor system. They built stockades or forts like the old
Middle Age towns. If there was a
security threat, an alarm sounded and the people left their homes and went into
the stockade. In the stockade every
able-bodied man was expected to defend the fort. In addition to this, security posts and
patrols were set up in and around the stockade or fort. They used people who were appointed as
constables, and other civilians who were paid by individuals, to roam the
streets at night to defend against criminals.
It was this activity that earned them the name “night watchmen”.
As the United States grew some sheriffs and marshals were appointed but
they had little chance to do more than keep the peace. They were busy dealing with drunks, bank
robbers, and the trouble caused by cattlemen enjoying a break from long trail
drives. Someone had to protect the
railroads, stagecoaches, assay offices and banks that were such easy targets
for criminals. To defend themselves,
these businesses formed their own police forces.
In 1851 Alan Pinkerton, an immigrant from Glasgow
Scotland,
formed the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
His company, which originated in Chicago,
was the first professional private security agency to operate in the United States. Pinkerton’s company grew in size and
reputation during the early days. He
drew upon his experience with the Chicago Police Department and developed many
ideas that centered on the theory of crime prevention. Pinkerton’s career included foiling an
assassination attempt on president-elect Abraham Lincoln and serving as an
intelligence officer for the Union Army.
Pinkerton organized the first “Secret Service” which operated behind
Confederate lines. The Pinkerton
Detective Agency documented cases that involved old-west outlaws such as Jesse
James, Sam Bass, the Younger brothers, Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch. Alan Pinkerton is considered the father of
private security.
Other security services sprang up around this time as well. In 1858 Edwin Holmes started a company that
developed the first burglar alarms.
William J. Burns started his private security company in 1909. Washington Perry Brinks founded Brinks
Incorporated in 1889. Brinks armored
cars are still well known today. The
William J. Burns Detective Agency began in 1909. Burns became head of the Bureau of
Investigation, later known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He got his start in contract security largely
through an account with the American Banking Association. The Wackenhut Corporation was founded in
1954. Wackenhut is one of the largest
agencies of its type in the word. Both
the Pinkerton and Burns firms grew to be very large and in 1999 the companies
merged into a separate company that was purchased by Securitas, a Swedish
company, in 2000.
Recent statistics show the number of private security personnel exceeds
the number of police personnel by a 4 to 1 ratio and the private sector far
exceeds the public sector in expenditures for protection. The continued threat of terrorism in the U.S
will likely ensure this trend continues.
Security today ranges from an in house person with little to no training
on laws and regulations working in a business as a visible deterrent to highly
trained and skilled operative tasked with the protection of a business and its
assets who knows all laws and regulations. There are a number of
responsibilities that each private security officer has. These responsibilities include; emergency
situations, strikes, public relations, crime prevention and entry alarms. Other responsibilities include;
Protecting
life and property
Observe and Report
Crime
Stop and Question
Provide security against loss from
theft, fire or mechanical equipment failure
Enforce property
rules and regulations
Control access
Act as a crowd
monitor
Maintain
order
In order to understand the two
most prevalent methods which citizens legally protect their lives and property,
you must understand the differences between public and private security.
Public security (police) consists
of, and is provided by, sworn, deputized law enforcement officers. They are paid from tax dollars collected from
the public. Their powers and authority
originate from the federal, state, county, or municipal government for whom
they are employed. The function of these
officers is law enforcement, Or more commonly know as a reactionary
division. Law enforcement usually responds after a crime has been committed and
then investigates the crime scene. If a suspect is found they then pursue the
suspect to prosecute in the court system. In most Cities Law enforcement
officers are limited to performing law enforcement duties only, not enforcing
rules and regulations of your property or facility or even doing duties that
you want done. When hiring an off duty police officer a business must also be
aware that not only are they paying a higher rate for a person to provide
security who has most likely already worked an 8 to 10 hour day of work. But
the business is also liable for any actions the officer takes and if the
officer is injured the business will also be paying the workers compensation
claim.
Private security consists of the
protection of the life and property of those who pay for the service from
private funds. The private security
officer’s power and authority are derived from the legal jurisdiction where
they perform their service. The function
of these officers is crime prevention
The duties of the private security
officer are protective and defensive in nature.
Officers act according to the degree of power granted to them by the
governing authority of the jurisdiction where they work. (Company rules and
regulations)
Ensuring the safety of lives and
property is the driving force behind private security.
Security is defined as the feeling
of well being resulting from the protection of persons or property from a broad
range of hazards including crime, fire, accidents, sabotage, and civil
disturbances.
Security officers are designed to:
Deter
Detect
Observe
Report
Take the necessary action to
protect life and property if the need arises.
Security officers are designed to
be there when you can’t and enforce all rules and regulations of your property
or facility. Security officers can detain and affect an arrest through the
police department.
What is crucial is if the company
you hire is professional, detail oriented, locally managed, reputable with
references and has a desire to provide good customer service and have a hands
on approach. Security is not being a uniformed 911 dialer.
How and what type of security is
determined by each business and how they want to impact the bottom line. Using
contract security lowers liability and risk to a company and places it on the
contract security company.
Every company must weigh the cost
of private security with the loss the incur without private security.
