Page 94 - Security Today, October 2018

GUARDED ENTRY
when many people are passing in a short time, or when traffic is passing in both inward and outward directions simultaneously.
Alarm Fatigue. People have a natural abil- ity to adjust to situations and to stimuli. This natural coping mechanism can cause prob- lems when false alarms are triggered repeat- edly, causing staff to eventually tune them out. This is similar to the old “boy crying wolf ” story, and we have all seen this effect at retail stores when anti-theft alarms incessant- ly go off at the exit doors.
Social Engineering. Humans are social animals, and people can be fooled into think- ing that someone is authorized simply because they look the part. Security penetra- tion testers regularly (and successfully) use social engineering tactics to gain entry into secure facilities—if someone is dressed like a workman, and walks confidently while carry- ing a coil of cable and a ladder, or a badge that looks official, staff will often simply let them pass through. Also, intruders can watch the staff to see when they get involved in a con- versation or phone call, then use that oppor- tunity to slip past without being seen.
OVERCOMING HUMAN WEAKNESSES
With the natural shortfalls of humans working against their effectiveness, what can be done?
The answer is to cover these shortfalls by deploying security turnstiles to work in con- junction with your human security staff to deter, and in some cases, detect tailgating attempts or unauthorized entry. In recent years, especially due to the events of late, we’ve seen demand for turnstiles grow in higher education because of increased awareness for protecting students, teachers and assets.
There are different types of turnstiles, and we’ve seen all types used on the same campus depending on the application. For example, you’ll find tripod turnstiles and full height turnstiles in and around stadiums, parking areas, campus perimeters, cafeterias, and resi- dence halls like those at Hofstra University. You’ll find sleeker and more expensive optical turnstiles, in residence halls like Liberty Uni- versity’s Lahaye Center, as well as libraries. When integrated with an access control sys- tem, turnstiles provide three different levels of protection against unauthorized entry, rang- ing from Crowd Control to Deterrence to Detection, and their different attributes can actually increase the inherent strengths of your staff (more on that later). Finally, secu- rity turnstiles eliminate the human weakness- es we described above.
Attendance. Security turnstiles can work 22 WWW.CAMPUSLIFESECURITY.COM | OCTOBER 2018
24/7 without breaks, sick days, or vacations. They do require periodic maintenance, which can be scheduled to minimize any disruptions.
Attention. Turnstiles provide a constant level of attention no matter what distractions are nearby, or how long it has been since the last visitor.
Alarm Fatigue. Optical turnstiles do issue an alarm when someone tailgates, which is intended to alert the staff to confront the offender immediately. Sensitivity and sensor types can be tailored to the actual conditions of the installation, minimizing false alarms that can mislead their human coworkers. It’s important that alarms are never turned off.
Social Engineering. Security entrances are immune to social engineering, treating every user presentation with the same level of scru- tiny. They cannot be distracted, nor can they be fooled by clothing, a clipboard, or a confi- dent smile.
There are other benefits: once turnstiles are installed, they enable easy and accurate recording of who has entered or exited via integration with the access control system. No more clipboards and manual sign-in sheets. In addition, they accurately count people, or in the case of optical turnstiles, you can count tailgating alarms, gaining insight into “hotspots” of infiltration activity that can be further addressed.
What happens to the student staff? They get to be good at being human. They don’t have to work so hard at watching the entry and can easily handle more complex interac- tions, such as answering questions, register- ing and directing visitors, and handling cer- tain types of complexities or exceptions. They
are also potentially available to perform other security-related functions like analysis of data or trends, training other staff members on security culture—and checking the security entrances for proper operation.
In the end, the most important role of cam- pus entrance staff is that of mounting a response to a violation and calling campus security if things get serious. It probably isn’t easy for a young student to challenge other students or visitors who try to break the rules and rush inside—the good news is that secu- rity turnstiles act as a deterrent to minimize such occurrences.
THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
It is impossible to calculate the chances that a determined intruder will be able to get past your staff and gain access inside a building on campus—but we do know from the news that sadly, this kind of incursion happens on a daily basis.
You can leverage turnstiles and access con- trol technology to change the game. By implementing a physical security plan that balances technology, education, and staffing, savvy campus security managers gain the advantages of their human guards as well as the advantages of modern entry technolo- gies—the best of both worlds.
Besides, don’t these working students deserve to get some homework done?
Tracie Thomas is the Vice President of Market- ing at Boon Edam.
CAMPUS SECURITY & LIFE SAFETY