Are your renters complaining about the lack of security or the holes in security measures in residential complexes endangering their lives and homes? If yes, it’s time to hire professional residential community security guards to patrol and monitor the premises.

Many states in the United States legally require apartment complexes to protect tenants and guests from foreseeable dangers. If a crime occurs in a nearby apartment complex, as the owner, you should warn your tenants so they can protect themselves and start locking doors while you work on installing complex-wide security measures.

In this blog, we’ll discuss how to ramp up security for apartment complexes and safeguard the neighborhood. Here’s what you need to know:

Research The Local Crime In Your Area

It’s all about your apartment complex’s location and crime in your neighborhood. Ask other business establishments and stores in your area about crime instances and how they’ve increased security and safety measures.

Increase Lighting In The Apartment Complex

Apartment complexes and buildings have many dark corners, nooks, and crannies, making it easy for people to sneak around and case the building. Therefore, add good lighting in the apartment complexes and install security cameras in different places, like mailrooms, laundry rooms, stairwells, waste management areas, storage rooms, parking areas, and hallways, to prevent people from hiding and sneaking around the complex.

However, if you’re concerned about utility charges, you can also install motion sensor lights that light up when someone walks through.

Fortify The Entrances

Entrances and exits are one of the first lines of defense in an apartment complex or building. Therefore, fortify them with remote unlocking mechanisms, cameras, keycodes, and chain locks. You can update the system codes and keep track of tenants leaving the complex so that an old tenant or someone with their key cards or codes can’t access the apartment complex at will.

Secure The Windows

Doors and windows are usually the second line of defense. Fortify and secure the windows with sturdy locks to protect your tenants. Next, test the windows from the outside and think like a burglar. How would you get in from the windows or doors? Intruders can also smash the glass window to open the lock. You can invest in motion sensor alarms that can go off when someone crosses the broken windows to get inside to counteract trespassers.

Conduct A Safety Meeting With All The Tenants

You can discuss potential security measures and problems with your tenants in this meeting. For example, if your tenants travel a lot or are away for most of the day, it can make it easy for robbers to case their apartment and rob them when they aren’t home. Therefore, tell them to keep a light or the television on while they’re not at home. It’ll give the illusion that someone is home.

You can also suggest that they use lamps with timers to come at certain times of the day. These are viable security measures for people around the holiday season because many people and couples set off to spend time with their families or go on vacations.

The meeting will also help people meet their neighbors, fellow tenants, and residents. Urge them to get familiar with their neighbors so they can all look out for each other as a community. This can be fruitful for the community because someone might report a crime if it occurs in the apartment next to them.

Suggest To Move Valuables In Secure Places

While locks and doors are one of the first lines of defense against robberies, it doesn’t hurt to add a second layer of security to an apartment. Encourage your renters to store valuables like heirlooms, cash, jewelry, and other items in a safe place. It’ll make it more difficult for the person to locate and steal these items. You may suggest bolting a safe to a floor or wall to store the valuables and for extra protection against burglars.

Close The Curtains After Dark

During the safety meetings, you can also advise the renters to keep their curtains closed at night because it makes it easier for on-lookers to peer inside their apartments. They can see if your renters have a large TV, good furniture, or other household items that indicate their lifestyle and status. Therefore, this can make their apartments a prime target for burglaries. Advise them to close the curtains at nighttime or whenever they’re away from home.

Keep Doors And Windows Locked

It may seem obvious to suggest keeping doors and windows locked to your renters when they leave the apartment for work or other excursions. However, also suggest they keep their windows and doors locked at all times, even when they’re in the apartment. Tell them to set reminders to check all doors and windows before they sleep at night.

Hire Security Guards

If you don’t have security guards at entrances and exits, you should hire and install them today. Connect with a local security guard company to help you design a plan to upgrade security for apartment complexes. It should include a guard station at entrances and exits, a monitoring team for the CCTV cameras to catch any suspicious activity and people on the grounds, and a patrolling unit that can watch the perimeters of the apartment complex in their neighborhood.

You can also encourage your renters to get familiar with security guards and help them feel welcome and a part of the apartment complex community. They’ll be able to profile all the residents and make the place safe for them. And since they’ll have information about the residents entering and leaving the apartment complexes, their behaviors, and routines, they’ll be more vigilant while noticing any unknown visitor and abnormal activity in the vicinity and handle the situation.

You can discuss the guard detail with the community associated with the apartment complex and whether they’ll be comfortable with armed or unarmed security guards. Allow them to weigh in on the pros and cons of hiring armed or unarmed security and the level of deterrence for potential infiltrators and burglars. Once an agreement is reached, contact your local security company to send a proposal based on your security needs.

Reach Out To One Of The Best Security Guards And Patrol Services In the U.S, Puerto Rico, and Canada

Are you looking for quality security & guarding services for your apartment complex? Guard Services USA has got you covered. They provide law enforcement security guards, off-duty police officers, and construction site security guards to protect residential communities and business establishments.

Get in touch with them today to learn more about their security services.