Campuses face many security challenges, but what are the common risks, and how can you overcome them? Find out here.
Over recent years there has been lots of talk surrounding campus safety, and most institutions have reported a rise in crime offenses since the pandemic.
However, as crimes such as motor vehicle theft have spiked in the last year, how can your institution address these matters and prevent them from happening to your staff and students?
The Cost of Campus Crime
From the latest data shown, campus crime was up by 8% from 2019. From motor vehicle theft and robbery to assault and burglary, campuses are faced with various issues that can be difficult to manage.
Such crime can lead to financial loss, reputational damage, and distrust for institutions and for the individuals involved; long-term effects on their physical and mental health, academic disruption, and personal financial loss.
Most seriously, the rise in gun crime has led to loss of life and injury, with the impact from this rippling throughout the community.
Gun crime has doubled in the last two decades, and already this year, a 16-year-old girl died following a school shooting by another student.
Unfortunately, the rise in overall campus crime has left staff and students fearful on a daily basis, making it vital for you to maintain the protection of your campus to both upkeep their safety and the survival of your institution.
How Can Campus Security Benefit You?
Campuses span vast, open spaces in order to accommodate all students and their studies; however, with this comes its challenges, including the heightened risk of crime.
To combat these challenges, implementing campus security is the best method and provides your institution with several benefits:
- Provides students and staff safety and a sense of security
- Helps to prevent crime
- Protects the institution’s property and the personal property of students and staff
- Helps to maintain a positive reputation for the institution
- Boosts recruitment for employees and students alike
- Ensures documentation is stored for the institution’s safety and to follow any procedures in place
Overall, campus security will generally benefit your institution, but to ensure optimized protection, you need to be aware of the common challenges you could be faced with and the best forms of defense against them.
5 Common Campus Security Challenges and WCCTV’s Response to Them
Having worked with campuses to support their security and utilizing our 20 years of expertise in parking lot surveillance to help combat such challenges, we explore 5 of the common campus security risks and our solution to this:
Gun Crime
Last year, there were 39 school shootings across various schools and campuses around the USA.
The impact of such crime resonates outwards from the staff and students into the community, leaving many in fear of simply attending campus in case of facing injury or even death at the hands of a shooter.
Issues such as PTSD, mental health issues, academic disruption, and absenteeism from both staff and students are also common for victims following school shootings.
It impacts all States, and unfortunately, campuses cannot stay under the impression that they may not be at risk of this themselves.
WCCTV’s Solution
Gun crime can be challenging to manage as shooters are often familiar with their surroundings and understand where to approach such situations. Therefore, criminal deterrence is the best method of defense to prevent this, with high-quality monitoring to support if active crime continues.
For criminal deterrence, you could consider perimeter fencing and guards, however, this still allows the opportunity for access and does not provide 24/7 coverage which is needed for this type of security threat.
Using our expertise, we would recommend a mobile surveillance system as this provides the flexibility of having security wherever you require it across campus, whilst monitoring and recording activity day to night.
Some systems, however, could be missing important features to boost your campus security.
In addition to the staple security features, our Surveillance Trailers offer a criminal deterrent factor. Standing at 20 ft tall, they create a strong defense presence that can be fitted with up to 4 cameras.
These cameras utilize high-quality video recording backed by a remote monitoring service that identifies, manages, and responds to threats appropriately, which includes calling Law Enforcement if required.
Motor Vehicle Theft
The number of motor vehicle thefts has risen by about 120% in 2022 compared to 2019, and poses a big threat towards campuses.
This security risk presents itself to staff, students, and visitors alike and can cause a multitude of knock-on effects following such incidents. From financial and personal property loss to work absence, a stolen vehicle can lead to endless consequences, all of which can impact your institution.
If individuals find there to be poor security or repeated thefts, your institution could face reputational damage and distrust from those utilizing your campus to secure their vehicles.
With no signs of slowing down, motor vehicle theft claims to be one of the most common campus crimes since overall figures began to rise again in 2019.
WCCTV’s Solution
External security is the only way to tackle this type of crime, however, choosing the cheapest option to manage such this will not guarantee the level of surveillance you require.
Our Surveillance Trailers are designed specifically for external security, with complete power autonomy, infrared PTZ technology, and zoom-in capabilities that can manage your parking lots day to night.
Additional features such as, License Plate Recognition (LPR) and AI Video Analytics can also provide further benefits that ensure precise tracking.
Motor vehicle theft can be difficult to prosecute, and it is unlikely that the vehicle will be gained back for the victim, therefore, boosting tracking capabilities will help to support this as best as possible.
Vandalism
Campuses are the perfect targets for vandalism. By combining large spaces, multiple buildings, and a lack of occupancy during the night, your institution is enticing for criminals.
This type of crime can vary in size, however, large vandalism is extremely costly for institutions to clean up or remove.
Repeated attacks can cause even further damage as the financial burden is worsened for institutions and could cause funding to be reduced or pulled from elsewhere. Therefore, managing this challenge appropriately is central to the security of your property and the financial safety of your institution.
WCCTV’s Solution
Vandalism tends to be carried out under darkness where criminals have a sense of security as they can be more easily concealed, creating less risk of being caught. This means you should implement security measures that can remove this from them.
Security guards can provide this partially, however, cannot patrol the full perimeter at all times. Therefore, in comparison to guards, mobile security systems including our Surveillance Trailers are considered the best option for this.
Features such as infrared technology and remote monitoring access help to monitor security risks 24/7 and respond before any crime takes place or help to report active crime.
However, the main features that work to prevent vandalism are the visible and audio deterrents fitted to our Surveillance Trailers, including the blue light sirens that work to draw attention to any situation and deter criminals from what they are doing.
Burglary
With some campuses, students will be housed, and the institution will hold valuable educational equipment and personal property which are prone to burglary.
Campuses have many blind spots and weak entry points that thieves will take advantage of for financial gain. Large, valuable items may not even be the direct targets, as smaller, easy-to-grab property is easier to steal without the risk of being caught.
However, no matter the target, institutions are still considered prime targets for burglary and by not addressing this, you will leave yourself at risk of financial loss and potential distrust from students also.
WCCTV’s Solution
Tackling burglary on campus can be difficult due to the number of entry points there are. This means 24/7 security is central to ensuring the correct level of monitoring is provided to the full campus.
To boost campus security further, consider upgrading your current security system or implementing one with remote monitoring services. This feature utilizes security experts who monitor threats, deter crime, and support responding to crime.
At WCCTV, we understand the importance of proactive and reactive security responses, especially to crime such as burglary, hence why all our products are backed by remote monitoring services.
This provides you with the best chance of crime deterrence and interception, rather than taking a retrospective approach, which does not guarantee the recollection of any of the stolen goods.
Trespassing
Due to the open access required for campuses with students and staff, this leads your site and property at risk of unauthorized access. As much as you will often have precautions in place to reduce this, compared to other building types, campuses are easier targets for trespassers.
With trespassing comes the risk of criminal activity, including theft, vandalism, and criminal damage, to in worst case scenarios; assault, sexual violence, and murder.
The unknown risk linked to such crime is where campuses need to remain vigilant as preparation for unauthorized access is much safer than addressing an active crime, especially in more serious cases.
WCCTV’s Solution
Trespassing can go hidden on campuses due to the number of students who frequent the premises, however, with the risk they can bring, you cannot ignore this issue as an institution.
However, your best method to tackle this is through a high-quality, advanced tech surveillance system that can monitor and track unauthorized access to your campus.
There are many benefits of our Surveillance Trailers, one being that they use AI Video Analytics to ensure precise tracking of any individual flagged as a security threat to your institution. With the additional benefit of security experts monitoring live footage to ensure any suspicious activity is identified and managed appropriately.
Other options such as perimeter fencing may create a physical barrier, however, these can still be accessed by intruders and may not be suitable for campuses as it could restrict access to staff and students.
Get Control of Your Campus Security with WCCTV
Although there are various security solutions such as perimeter fencing, security guards, and fixed surveillance systems, their sole effectiveness may not be able to match the security your campus requires.
With WCCTV’s Surveillance Trailers, we have designed them to address various security needs including that of campus security.
Our fully-managed service utilizes advanced camera technology, remote monitoring services, and a criminal deterrent factor that helps to prevent campus crime. Alongside this, our Trailers can be moved around the campus if a hot spot is identified or you have an event you wish to focus your security on.
It allows for you to take control of your campus security, whilst allowing you to remain hands-free as we live monitor and ensure the correct response is provided to threats.
Speak with one of our Surveillance Trailer experts today to find out how we can support you and your campus security.
