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Parking Security: Modern Solutions for Timeless Threats

Garages and parking lots shouldn’t evoke a sense of fear or uneasiness. They are neither storage spaces for hazardous materials, nor a home for any inherent danger—they are simply meant to offer drivers a safe and designated space to keep their vehicles.

But from a security perspective, boogeymen still linger in parking facilities—taking the shape of opportunistic thieves in poorly lit corners, treacherous potholes waiting to twist an ankle, and several other threats. During the past five years, parking environments rank third highest in locations where a violent offense occurred, according to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer. Accounting for 239,998 incidents, parking lots were only bested by the home or residence (1,851,019 reports) and highways, roads, or sidewalks (773,461) between 2019 and 2024.

Incidents in parking lots or garages have consistently been grouped into two main categories: crimes or instances where a vehicle strikes a person or object. While the risks have not changed over the last few decades, the methods and materials that property owners and their security personnel rely on have evolved.

During his 30-year security career, Paratus Consultants Group President Herb Ubbens, CPP, PSP, has watched parking security evolve. When Ubbens first began looking at solutions for clients, there were no blue light emergency posts, cellphones, adjustable lighting, sensors that leverage analytics or artificial intelligence, or the ability to automatically shut off lights closer to parking garage perimeters where areas would already be well-illuminated by daylight. “The technology side of it has really improved,” Ubbens says.

For example, compared to older surveillance systems, present day cameras and video management systems can detect, identify, and alert security staff monitoring surveillance feeds in response to specific events. Depending on the system and its features, viewers can be notified if a person enters a parking area after hours, if someone is carrying a weapon, or if the license plate of a flagged or unauthorized car has entered the premises.

But these advances in technology and safety also change the standard of care and potential liability.

“The great thing about technology is it expands our capabilities and then truthfully makes everything cheaper,” says Michael Haggard, attorney at the Haggard Law Firm. But that affordability and availability of better cameras, sensors, lights, systems, and other tools means that the bar is raised when it comes to reasonable measures that should be taken by a parking property owner or operator.

Liability Lane

Like any other property that is open to the public, parking properties’ owners and operators deal with a certain level of liability risks. Owners and operators carry a level of responsibility to ensure that a parking property is reasonably safe from criminal activities and commonplace threats.

But one thing that litigators are familiar with is a business’s tendency to allocate the majority of its security budget to its core facilities, not parking areas. Haggard points out that fewer security measures or a failure to conduct a security assessment can exacerbate incidents or increase their probability. This is especially challenging because parking facilities tend to be lightly populated at any given time—and therefore lack potential witnesses to a crime.

“It’s much easier to rob someone or to target someone in a parking garage because there’s just not enough people around,” Haggard says. He recommends individuals be aware of crime trends that are occurring in the area, as well as what kinds of crime are targeting local businesses. Haggard also suggests staying apprised about incidents that have happened at similar parking facilities. He notes that a failure to prevent of mitigate a violent incident, such as a mass shooting, can greatly impact a business’s reputation on top of presenting an issue of liability.

One common issue that increases the likelihood of a security incident in such properties is a lack of sufficient lighting. These conditions “can attract other types of activity, whether that’s drug deals, assaults, thefts, murders,” notes Matt Willenbrink, a parking subject matter expert for Genetec.

Whether someone is waiting for an opportune moment to carjack or mug a driver or a begrudging ex-spouse has planned an attack where they know their former partner is going to be alone, bad actors are likely going to try to hide where it’s most dark.

Building and fire codes may vary by region, but they are nonetheless a good starting point for lighting—although adding more lights than required to make a space less attractive for bad actors won’t hurt, according to Willenbrink. Alongside limiting the number of dark or poorly lit areas, isolated spaces like stairwells can be further secured with surveillance and communication devices. Access control solutions can also be implemented to mitigate intrusion risks, with a driver’s parking ticket doubling as a key card to enter the facility.

For large spaces, Haggard notes that uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) can be a cost-effective way to monitor activity, especially when stacked up against the cost of a potential lawsuit. “It’s cheap. It can be operated by one person and cover a lot of ground,” he says.

Parking Perceptions

While there are solutions that can effectively mitigate issues and deter crime, Ubbens notes that parking areas are a setting where appearances can matter just as much as physical security solutions. Garages or lots directly associated with businesses or commercial real estate can risk losing patrons and employees if these people sense that the parking area is unsafe and feel like the organization isn’t bothering to address it.

“The perception of security is important,” Ubbens says. And while that perception relies on having sufficient camera coverage, video or audio analytics, communication devices, or security guards within the garage, appearance and overall maintenance matter, too.

Instead of leaving concrete walls and pillars their original color, painting the walls brighter colors and improving signage can reduce potential friction, helping drivers and visitors more easily navigate through a space and remember where they parked their vehicle. This serves a customer service purpose as well as a security one.

“Garages nowadays, when they’re building new ones, that is something that planners are taking into account—how they physically lay out the structures, not only for maximizing parking spaces, but maximizing the flow of people through them in a way that’s not only efficient for them to get from point A to point B, but also makes it a comfortable and pleasant parking experience,” Willenbrink says.

Honk If You Like Safety

Even from a workplace safety perspective, these areas are well worth deeper consideration and investment. “You’re responsible as a business to keep your property reasonably secure—keep it secure, keep your patrons and your employees reasonably safe,” Haggard adds. Haggard recalls several cases from previous years that involved a parking lot or garage, including some where a business’s employee was the victim. “Parking lots are where the action is,” he says.

Parking area owners must safeguard their facilities, but to what degree? Too much security can make a facility feel overwhelmingly difficult to enter or deal with, but too little leaves users at risk and owners and operators liable.

Organizations will be better equipped to reasonably address the safety and security demands of their parking areas if they begin with awareness. Haggard recommends that organizations should stay apprised of crime rates in the area and of any incidents at similar parking lots or garages.

Parking facility management is also changing, requiring different security approaches. For example, more garages are moving away from staffing parking properties, according to Willenbrink. For garages and lots still operating in cash, the sites are tempting targets for opportunistic thieves. Instead of keeping staff and cash on site, owners or operators have opted for pay-by-plate or other digital systems.

But criminal activities are not the only threats posed to employees. At parking properties where staff or security patrols are required to check on the vehicles, they run the risk of dealing with physical and verbal assaults stemming from disputes over a parking violation.

“People are becoming just more frustrated with how they park and the entire parking process,” Willenbrink says. “So, when people get angry and frustrated, and their regular lives are stressed, that comes out in ways that may or may not be the most friendly or safe for parking operators.”

Providing garage and parking staff with de-escalation training or regularly communicating about how to report incidents can greatly help staff and understand how they are supported, increasing the likelihood of retention and decreasing the risk of a situation escalating into violence.

“There are a lot of triggers out there for people,” Ubbens says. “Organizations really have to be concerned about what is going to trigger [visitors and customers].”

Parking spaces are the first and last impression that visitors and patrons have related to a business, organization, or area. If they are frustrating, unsafe, or inconvenient, customers, visitors, and employees are likely to look for another business or workplace that can provide a better overall experience.

 

Sara Mosqueda is associate editor for Security Management. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or send her an email at [email protected].

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