How can you help your shopping centers, stores in your community

Store Security Plan and Procedure

Source: Safety and Emergency Assistance Network August 4, 2014


· The first priority of the store and the authorities in the community should be the prevention of egress for any kind of robbery in band groups or individual criminal that will cause potential losses and damage to the store or its store owners. From the store proper, to any kind of parking area, all points of egress for the perpetrators must be stopped.

· The store can install a system of effective security road blocks to deter perpetrators from exiting the premises during escape after a criminal act.

· Alongside locking down the perpetrators of a robbery or similar group, is immediate neutralization and demobilization, thereby preventing the same perpetrators from causing further harm and damage to life and property within the mall premises.

·  A similarly important security procedure is to place the entire the store or similar facility in NCRPO under heightened alert, considerably increase target hardening for an indefinite extended period once that facility receives a bomb threat. All measures may be taken to prevent, coopt and interdict any criminal act that will follow. After about more than one (1) month, the security may be eased however for practical purposes, random alert and heightened security may be called by the security manager.

·  The security guards that fled the scene of the robbery should be interviewed thoroughly by the SPD and be given authorized leave with pay by the store-PSAs employing them.

Web photos of MARTILYO GANG robbery in Metro Manila

· Since the Department Store security guards immediately evaded and fled from the scene during the robbery the PSAs should appropriately rewrite their Security Plan for the the store detachments. The salient points of these Security Plans should be subjected to a thorough panel critique and assessment by the SPD and the local PNP Station during coordination conferences prior to their implementation. 

·  One important addition to the Security Plan should be a quick response template for the the store security personnel as a collective whole and as a force multiplier organization for the law enforcement sector as well as other government security agencies.

·  The defensive use of authorized demobilizing devices such as TASER in the form of ball pen, TRANQUILIZER GUN and similar non lethal gadgets is highly recommended. As much as possible, these should strictly be in the hands only of well-vetted security personnel with very higher level security or else past military and police training and experience.

· Mall authority should conduct their own personnel vetting / background checking of the manpower of contract security services. More than one suspects of the the store robbery connected to Private Security Agencies (PSA) provides a high probability of close contact with a member of one of the the store contract security service outfits.

· Security agencies and the Security Department should conduct a post-incident Security Survey Inspection of the mall premises and coordinate their observations and findings together with any forecasts and apprehensions with the SPD.

· Security managers, following several months after the the store robbery should already have come up with a systematic, well-ordered Security Plan for the security personnel to follow during times of crisis and emergency similar to or more critical than the March 30 incident. This should now be subject to assessment and forming of recommendations on the part of SPD.

· One of the most critical aspects of the Security Plan is setting up an Incident Alert-Alarm System (INCAS) that shall also interface with local PNP and the SPD.  A centralized monitoring shall show exact indicators where the incident is taking place. The INCAS shall be designed to call the attention of members of an emergency, quick reaction group within the mall to respond to the area of the occurrence during a critical incident as well as immediately alert the PNP at the exact occurrence of the event. The INCAS shall also function as a Public Warning System (PWS).

· As part of the template of the Security Plan for the store, Security Guards and In-House Detectives, should not immediately run away and be the first to flee during any kind of incident but must have a collective counter-foil plan to initially deter robbery-in-band; abduction; theft and burglary; dealing-distributing-using prohibited substances; disseminating toxic material; public molestation and disgracing of both female and male victims, among other malfeances, felonies, minor or heinous crimes.

· The SPD shall participate in the regular conduct of post-incident security orientation programs, drills, and brief the security personnel appropriately about the roles of the PNP and security service organizations in future incidents that might involve the the store.

· The past recommendation is reiterated that the the store security contractors must undertake linear coordination amongst the different PSAs, personnel, and a single radio frequency should be adopted to ensure a clear line of communication between and among the various security personnel.  A designated radio operator shall be provided an annex concrete secured kiosk attached to or safely located underneath the the store PNP detachment at the Seaside Boulevard.

· The UGNAYAN meetings between the concerned PADPAO members and local PNP Units must be encouraged and persistently held with regularity in order to ensure that there is constant liaison and cooperation between the police and the PSAs.  SPD could serve as one effective bridge, among others, between the PSAs and other sectors.

·  It is reiterated that the location of the Jewelry Shops must be subjected to considerable target hardening.  Further to this, the location of CCTV and the use of a different lighting design, together with the strategic deployment of mirrors that will not make it possible for concealment from the CCTV camera are strongly recommended.  Not all CCTV camera must be located at the ceiling to capture the image also from lower altitude and all camera must be high resolution, high definition.

CCTV

It is requested that SPD obtain existing CCTV footage of:

· The period prior to the robbery that show the suspects whether or not it is apparent that they make contact with any individual not presently connected by the investigation directly to the group in order to provide further leads for the PNP investigations.

· From the mall area up to the parking lot and the peripheral areas of the store, from the period after the robbery that show the suspects escaping from the the store Department Store that could help shed light about the manner of suspects’ escape.

· The CCTVs should be properly placed and the number of cameras must be augmented to make it adequate for covering the entire mall premises. At the entrances and exits, the CCTV cameras should be placed as near enough to eye level to capture faces more clearly.

· In the same spirit as the City of London’s CCTV system called Ring of Steel and the City of New York’s Lower Manhattan Initiative, where a contiguous surveillance system of CCTV cameras protect the people and property, being in the category of a REGIONAL SUPER MALL, the store must be able to set up an efficient and effective CCTV surveillance system. It is recalled that the camera that enabled the capture by government authority in the United States of the Boston Bomber was a Department Store camera.  Management must place CCTV camera at the entrance and within the vicinity of the parking areas at the mall to capture plate numbers of both four wheel and two wheel vehicles as well as capture images of the vehicle types and their driver upon the roll down of windows. The management shall consolidate CCTV operations by setting up a central CCTV Monitoring area to be manned at operational hours by an authorized operator.

· The store should also procure a special set of CCTV camera for Mobile Monitoring that will have both a line-of-sight connection and loop link to the CCTV Monitoring center. Mobile CCTV will be vital during out-of-CCTV-range accidents or other types of incidents.

· It is also moreover reiterated that the store install a walk thru metal detector with CCTV camera at the mall entrances to capture images of mall goers and for possible detection of any concealed deadly weapon or implement for crime, etc. that might be used in the commission of a crime.

· Establish CCTV Monitoring room to be manned during mall operational hour by an authorized and comprehensively vetted operator(s).

CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY

· It is also strongly reiterated herein, that the PNP should coordinate and lobby with the Pasay City Sangguniang Panglungsod for promulgating a City Ordinance requiring applicants for business permit to undertake the installation of high definition and internet protocol-ready CCTV on their establishments and voluntarily surrender CCTV appropriate footage to the law enforcement authorities in case of investigation relative to the occurrence of a crime without court order, to expedite the immediate resolution of the same. Such footage may also be accessed online through coordination between SPD and the establishment owners.

· All Cities with existing ordinances to this effect should be encouraged and supported by the PNP in the strict implementation thereof and concerned parties shall be regularly inspected and monitored for compliance.

· In coordination and cooperation with PNP, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the various cities and towns, shall formulate a Plan and install an entire set of Metro Manila-wide security Road Block System with components that could be activated at any time. For practical purposes, using a module type scheme, the system can be gradually installed throughout NCR.

· The Security System shall be designed for MMDA and the localities in such a manner that this could also serve as a template for providing the most effective route line to manage conflagrations and execute fast and easy, orderly Evacuations and escape from high threat areas during extreme emergencies such as Disaster (flood, earthquake, fire, tsunami, liquefaction, ground rapture, etc.)

· CCTV owners must save CCTV records in proper storage and these stored data or information shall now qualify as part of the public domain. Whether or not an incident occurs, no establishment owner must delete their CCTV records of at least the past month or preferably longer. The SPD shall have prerogative of first refusal of access before these data are erased permanently.

· The store and other business establishments that will undertake to set up better CCTV apparatus for monitoring and horizontal communications systems for their security personnel provide an interface with the SPD for their communications and one monitoring screen for the SPD to access in real time any coverage of threatened areas or during the occurrence of critical incidents.

· As with many security equipment providers’ usual practice locally and worldwide, the store shall provide such interface with SPD to increase reaction and response speed during an incident. The the store CCTV operator can make available images into one interface monitor at SPD at any one time, coming from one or several CCTV cameras.

· The PNP shall coordinate and cooperate with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the City Local Governments to undertake the formulation of a Surveillance System Plan – Architecture (SSPA) for the LGUs respective portion of Metro Manila and the gradual implementation of said plan in full cooperation with the private sector.  Such SSPA shall above all include the installation of CCTV in very strategic points to deter and catch crime elements.

PNP

· Special Action units of the various Districts must always have very fast, rapid response capability and must conduct at all times rehearsals of anti crime response.

· A proper Security Operations Plan for conducting very effective blocking operations during incidents like the the store and other potential CRIMINAL OPERATIONS similar to robbery in band groups or individual criminal, among others, will greatly diminish huge amounts of resources devoted to intelligence and investigations once the perpetrators are never captured prior to or after the commission of a crime.

· With the IBIS Correlation and Matching system at the PNP Headquarters, SPD and the other Districts under NCRPO should at least have a reliable hardware and software System for fast CCTV and other digital records enhancement and exploitation. Due to the low quality product of the CCTV camera at the the store, it is extremely difficult to utilize the image grabs coming from the crime scene videos.

· A token support for the provision of a high storage CPU sub server system with interface monitoring wall screen and software for image enhancement, cartographic face construction and aging, search and databasing for the information available in the entire District shall be provided to SPD and each of the other Districts. Nominal civil works fund may be made available to provide for a small facility that will house the computer hardware under low temperatures at all times.

· Since the provincial-regional PNPs now have an NPA MAPPING INFORMATION SYSTEM using a mix of available and Armed Forces of the Philippines technologies, NCRPO could benefit by piloting a CRIME OR CRIMINAL URBAN AND SUBURBAN MAPPING INFORMATION SYSTEM (CUSMIS or CMS).

· The CUSMIS or CMS shall be controlled at both Headquarters and NCRPO level and on a day-to-day basis shall be managed at the level of NCRPO.

· The designer and systems developer for the CUSMIS shall design the System so that it shall be able to provide the same service in dealing with incidents involving terrorist related threats and deadly terror attacks.

· NCRPO is not covered by the DIPO system. Henceforth, the NCRPO’s success in creating this kind of system will benefit the DIPO constituent regions by replicating and adapting the more effective and productive components of the system in their own localities or areas of jurisdiction.

The Community-Based Safety, Peace and Security Secretariat entertains all manner of suggestions, recommendations, comments for keeping shopping areas and stores more safe from crime.If you have any topics to discuss please contact us or email at the communitysafetysummit@yahoo.com or call us at +6325058107 or mobile +6391747606451.

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