Multifamily apartment complexes and shopping centers seek to maintain a secure environment for their tenants and customers while reducing their own exposure to premises liability, damage and unwanted visitors. The parking lot of a condominium in Hollywood, Florida was strewn with glass recently after thieves smashed the windows of dozens of vehicles in order to steal valuables left inside. Ironically, the items stolen by the thieves were of much less value than the windows they broke during their thievery. Typical of the thefts were the sunglasses, old cell phone and small change taken from the 2005 Scion XB owned by a resident.
The car windows smashed at a multifamily apartment were discovered by a resident when she went to the parking lot at approximately 5 A.M. to head for work. She was soon joined by other residents, who were also shocked to find their windows smashed. After calling the police, the residents recovered from their shock enough to begin alerting their friends and neighbors to the potential of damage to other vehicles.
The parking lot of this twin-towered, beachfront condominium seems an unlikely place for such a rampage to take place. As a long-time resident said “You think it’s a safe place. It was shocking for everybody.” This thought was echoed by a resident, who remarked “This lot is facing the A1A – you think somebody would have seen it.” Another said “I feel violated; it’s like someone broke into my home.”
After a rash of car break-ins in Indianapolis last November, The police sergeant commented, “You would think the smashing of car windows and stealing things…would create enough commotion that people would see something but we rarely get any witnesses to these crimes.”
These properties are not clients of Stealth Monitoring. Stealth proactive live surveillance can detect and deter crime in Hollywood, Florida, Indianapolis and other cities in the U.S., while reducing security guard and other expenses. A Stealth operator could have seen unusual activity like car windows smashed at an apartment, activated an audible warning to deter the thieves, and called the local police.
Please contact Stealth today for more information to protect your multifamily apartment or other building. Visit our web site to see actual videos of criminals being apprehended at all kinds of commercial properties.
