Page 23 - Security Today, May/June 2022

“The pandemic has also escalated tensions among store-going consumers, while simultaneously seeing the proliferation of self- checkouts, another asset retailers need to effectively manage.”
presents it to whomever is designated by the retailer to receive the alert. Retailers often need to layer in a web of responders trained in what to do to validate the threat, remove people from the threat area and execute the steps that have been already outlined by the retailer.
These responders can include store managers or others at the store level, operators at a regional or centralized SOC or lo- cal authorities, so retailers need a VMS system that provides a maximum of flexibility in the types of alerting and response. For example, a store manager is likely not always at the front of the store to visually see an incoming active shooter enter from the parking lot, but the VMS system can detect the threat and send a local alert from the VMS.
The system can provide a visual picture of the threat, and also potentially crucial information to aid in contacting local authori- ties directly or send an advisory from the regional SOC that first responders are already en route to the store or warehouse location.
Alerts and notifications are crucial, but technology can’t effec-
tively stand alone and needs to fit seamlessly into the user’s over- all emergency response program or protocols. Challenges remain for retailers in active shooter incident prevention and response, including the responsibility to protect massive open environments that often have no physical security presence; the potential for an active shooter to be a customer or employee (front and back of house); and other facility vulnerabilities that vary dramatically by type, size and location of the retailer.
Retailers should also look for a VMS vendor with the in- house expertise to assist them with the design and development of an emergency response program in concert with their video surveillance solution and active shooter detection.
As active shooter incidents tick up, video surveillance and analytics yield both the technological data and the tools to minimize threats and prevent risk proactively. VMS vendors that employ an open architecture approach, and who maintain multiple integrations with different threat detection systems are more able to offer a flexible and customizable approach that allows retailers to deploy multiple or single threat detection solutions.
While we can’t predict crises, we can plan for them and active shooter detection is a key exam- ple of how retailers can marry technology and internal policies and procedures to make their environment safer for customers and staff.
Keith Abuele is the chief security officer at Salient Systems.
WWW.SECURITYTODAY.COM 23 Untitled-19 1 3/3/22 9:52 AM