The following video showcases a crime that is common at multifamily residential properties. What’s not so typical is the outcome.
Here’s What You Saw in the Video
A vehicle was observed by a trained Stealth security operator in the parking garage of a southern California apartment community. The vehicle gained entry into the access-controlled garage by tailgating another vehicle. The individual exited and attempted to access multiple vehicles in the garage. Our operator immediately contacted police in real time and continued to monitor the situation, keeping police dispatch aware of his activities and location in the garage. In some cases, he was successful, managing to steal items from several cars. He then returned to his car. Responding officers located the suspect as well as a second person. The officers then placed both individuals under arrest and into a police vehicle. Police recovered the stolen items and left the community.
Security Guards Repeatedly Missed Crime
This apartment community relied solely on a single stand-alone courtesy patrol officer to monitor their property at a cost of just over $10,000 per month! Unfortunately, the guards were missing most of the incidents that were occurring in the parking garage because they were patrolling other areas of the community. That’s just one of the many problems associated with the antiquated guard-only security model. They can only be in one place at a time.
The guards were not only ineffective, they cost the community a lot of money. In addition to the high operating costs associated with service, the fact that they were missing car break-ins on a regular basis was angering residents, which in turn was harming the community’s reputation and retention rates.
The apartment parking garage in the video had an access-controlled gate at its entrance. Our extensive multi-family experience has shown that fences, gates and access control have a limited effect on reducing crime. We’ve facilitated numerous arrests on communities that have these measures in place. While they do help make it more difficult to gain access, the reality is criminals will always find a way onto the community. Stealth operators were watching in real time so we could act immediately.
Our trained security operators stayed on the line with the police providing valuable information that led officers right to the suspect. We are able to provide more detail regarding suspect information because unlike security guards or other independent witnesses, we can do instant replay while still on the phone with police. This detailed information is extremely helpful to officers when responding to a call. Keeping up suspect location is extremely helpful for officer safety and successful apprehension. Stealth Monitoring operators will also help police resolve matters by often providing video of the incident while they are still on scene.
Police were successful at returning stolen goods to one of the victims while he was standing in the parking garage.
Benefits to the Community
Parking lots are crime magnets. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 1 in 10 property crimes take place in parking garages or lots.
As previously mentioned, the on-site guards at this California apartment community were missing much of the crime occurring in the parking garage. After implementing Stealth Monitoring’s proactive remote video surveillance, the blind spots were filled with security cameras that were watched in real time. The community swapped the expensive standing guard service for a less expensive drive-by patrol with on-call availability to handle issues like noise complaints. They replaced the full-time hours guard hours with Stealth live video monitoring for a fraction of the cost. As a result, the community has seen a reduction in crime and operating costs. Notably, there have been three apprehensions in less than a month! Due to the better security outcome and reduced operational expenses, the ownership of this community continues to scale our service into many of their other assets.
As an apartment owner or manager, you want your residents and guests to feel safe. On-site guards, while providing human presence on the property, are not always the best solution. If you want more information about Stealth’s live video monitoring for multifamily residential properties, contact us.
