Benefits of Patrolling in Guarding Operations

Notwithstanding the proliferation of technology in the field of Security Management today, human barriers are still the most effective in a vast majority of security applications. Recently there was an attempted theft case at one of the vehicle yards where the breach was detected by the security guard who was on patrolling duty. The yard has a perimeter of approximately 5 kms and one tour of patrolling takes about an hour. There are contact points fixed all along the boundary wall which have to be physically touched by the ‘proxy pen’ (part of the guard monitoring system) by the patrolling guard. When the said guard reached the location of one such contact point he saw that there was a breach in the wall and four truck tyres were lying on the ground. This happened at 0300 hrs and the intruder(s) fled presumably on seeing the light of the torch which the approaching guard was carrying. On further investigation he could see a car parked on the highway which drove off as soon as he stepped out of the gap in the wall. The guard showed remarkable presence of mind by noting down the registration number of the vehicle which was passed on to the Police investigation team. The area was secured and the boundary wall repaired after the Police team had concluded their inspection of the site.

All facilities such as vehicle yards, warehouses and business premises which are spread out over a large area warrant the requirement of patrolling by the security guards, particularly at night. The above incident brought home a some lessons for us which we are in the process of addressing. These are as follows :
(a) The collusion of some insider cannot be ruled out in this particular case. Action is in hand to sort out this problem.
(b) Reducing the time taken for patrolling. In the instant case the intruders had time to remove four tyres from the parked trucks. They took the toolkit from one of the locked trucks by breaking the window glass. They may have had knowledge about the time taken for one round by the patrolling guard.
(c) The vulnerability of the unarmed security guard who has to confront such situations. A vehicle will shortly be provided for patrolling so as to reduce the time taken for one round as also to provide some measure of protection to the security guard.
(d) Increasing the frequency of patrolling and not sticking to a particular schedule which can be predictable.

Following are some photos taken at the site which will illustrate the above mentioned points better :

The tyres lying near the breach. Each costs nearly

350 Rials (approx Rs 40,000/-) !
The breach viewed form outside. Abandoned tools
are also visible.

The guard monitoring contact point on the sheet

which was damaged.

A view of the area outside the facility which is lonely

and isolated. Ideal ingredients for potential intruders !