How you protect your family and property is an important decision, and having a strategy in place is key.
Prominent people often avoid addressing security and privacy topics for various reasons. Sometimes it’s because their family lives are complicated and nuanced, and sometimes it’s simply because they do not know how or where to start. Crisis24 has expertise in building residence security programs that meet the unique needs of our clients.
It all starts at home
It’s true that each family circumstance is different. However, virtually all prominent people have one thing in common: a place they call home.
Furthermore, they all want a home life that is peaceful, safe, and private—free from all forms of unwanted intrusion. So, when designing a comprehensive family security program, we at Crisis24 always start with the individual’s home. Here is the approach we take.
Creating a culture that prioritizes security
The first step in creating an effective home security program is to establish a culture that prioritizes security.
Many prominent residences operate like small businesses; there are many moving parts, including multiple staff, deliveries, service people, guests and construction projects on the go.
Similar to a business, everyone in the environment will look to the boss, the principal homeowner or head of the household, to determine priorities. This individual’s priorities then develop into a culture.
Therefore, we always communicate to our clients that it’s important for the head of the household to prioritize security and privacy if they expect others to do so.
We further advise our clients that there are many meaningful ways to promote a strong security culture, and to lead by example.
Access control: the foundation of an effective security program
Establishing a culture that prioritizes effective access control is critical to ensuring a safe, private, and peaceful home environment. It’s important that the head of the household not send conflicting messages on this topic.
For example, it’s critical that both staff and family members are clear on the fact that the purpose of an access control program (gates, intercoms and cameras) is not to provide a way to let people in; its purpose is precisely the opposite: to keep nearly 8 billion people out, and to admit a small handful of people, exceptions, after careful consideration.
Another key principle, particularly for gated properties, is to apply access control at the outermost perimeter of the property.
Treating the gate like the front door of the house
It’s critical to conduct screening and authorization processes before the gate is opened and someone is on the property. After all, once the person is in, it can be very difficult to get them out.
Likewise, as a matter of process, have staff accept deliveries at the gate, rather than admitting delivery people fully onto the property. This will send a strong message about how the homeowners approach the topic of security and privacy and reinforce the culture internally and externally. This can be achieved by establishing regular training and briefings for staff on these topics
Sophisticated technical security systems
The main distinction between basic home alarms and sophisticated systems are technologies that effectively move the detection perimeter outward, from doors and windows of a house, to the outermost perimeter of the property.
When armed, traditional home alarm systems alert a homeowner if a door or window is opened or breached, or if there is movement in some area within the home. Although this type of alarm system can be very effective for most family homes, a more comprehensive, advanced system that also gets triggered when possible intruders are approaching the property is often required for high-profile individuals and their residences.
A sophisticated technical security system designed for more elaborate residences will detect when people are approaching the property, and alert homeowners (or on-site security personnel) much earlier—before a person even reaches residence structures.
Early warning shifts the advantage from the intruder to the occupants.
Effective systems include three main elements:
- Early-warning detection devices, located at the outermost perimeters of the property
- Notification systems, to reliably alert appropriate people within the property
- Verification technologies, such as security cameras, to confirm the nature of an alert
Early-warning systems are also designed to alert intruders that they’ve been detected (via dedicated security lights, audible tones at the entry location, etc.). This function usually delivers the most desirable result: intruders will be deterred and flee.
Want to learn more on this topic? Read the next installment of this article: Designing a residence security program – Part 2
