If you are a security guard for a store, business, airport or community, you are relied upon to keep customers and homeowners safe from harm. You are on constant high alert, watching for things that do not look right, patrolling areas, and making sure things like theft do not occur. There are many high-tech devices that can be used to make this job a bit easier.

Cameras/CCTV

Security jobs rely on the use of cameras to be able to see what is going on at all places that need to be watched. There are many cameras that you can buy that are almost unnoticeable. They are small enough to be hidden in cracks in the wall or underneath wall outlet covers. 

Cameras are the eyes that shoplifters or robbers would not be aware of watching. The cameras can be wireless, and the footage would be able to be viewed on a monitor at the security guard station. This is called closed circuit television (CCTV). 

Door/Gate Entry

Security guards need to know who is entering and leaving the facility being watched. Cameras will get footage of the visitors, but will not keep out people that are not supposed to be on the premises. To have a handle on who has entered, there are a few ways to check.

Magnetic card swiping is one way to know who has entered a building or community. The reader will keep record of the card holder's information and be able to be accessed later if there was a crime committed. The list will allow the security guard to know exactly who was around when something happened. Another way would be an electronic keypad. The person entering would be required to know the code to get into the door, and would be locked out until they can provide the information. The keypad can be changed periodically, with new keys given out to people that are allowed in the area. Rekeying can help deter against duplicate cards from being made.

Metal Detectors

Unfortunately, we live in an age where we need to check what is brought into a building or community. Metal detectors can help by deterring people from bringing in belongings that may be unsafe around other people. Metal detection can be done with panels that are set up in entryways or with a wand that the security guard would wave over the person's body. 

Metal detectors will alert guards if the person entering is carrying a concealed weapon. Metal detectors can be used at both entrances and exits. Loss prevention uses metal detection in helping to know if someone has stolen an item from a store. Metal tags are placed on higher priced items and on items that are easy to steal. (For additional questions about locksmith services, contact a company such as Carlsbad Village Lock & Key)