Unfortunately, parking lots and facilities can be common locations for theft and other crimes, including physical attacks and violence. Poorly maintained parking areas can lead to vehicle collisions and pedestrian accidents. The presence of these issues often makes visitors and customers feel unsafe or on-edge walking through parking facilities, especially at night, which is the last thing you want your patrons to feel before visiting your business. Fortunately, there are tips you can use to keep your commercial parking lot safe and secure and minimize these safety risks. Keep reading to learn the top safety strategies you can implement in your commercial lot or garage.
Parking Lot Security
Many parking lots are open and not surveyed, which makes them a target for criminals and thieves. Parking lots are often sites for robberies, vehicle theft, attacks, accidents, and more. Criminals may target abandoned vehicles or their drivers themselves. While some of these safety issues may be due to location, the state of your lot can also affect its safety. If your parking lot is poorly maintained, it can also lead to increased accidents and crime.
Tips for Boosting Parking Lot Security
Because parking lots naturally face the above security issues, you may be wondering what businesses can do to make their properties safer for customers and visitors. Here are some tips for parking lot security that you can use to upgrade your lots and promote safer spaces.
Keep Your Lot Illuminated
Installing prominent light sources around your lot is one of the most effective ways to promote safety. Criminals are less likely to target well-lit parking lots because their chances of being spotted or recorded are much higher in these areas. Consider increasing the number of lamps around your lot or using brighter bulbs. You should also replace burnt-out bulbs and lighting features as soon as you notice them during inspections. This will help your parking lot appear safer and more managed, which can provide peace of mind for your customers.
Install a Fence or Gate
Installing a fence can restrict access that criminals have to your property. This provides added protection to your parking lot and your building, especially at night and after hours. Fences help discourage theft and crime by limiting a criminal’s options for easy access and escape.
Installing a gate promotes access control, which helps businesses manage the flow of traffic to their facilities. However, installing a gate isn’t optimal for all commercial businesses. For example, installing a gate at the entrance to a retail parking lot or mall could end up restricting well-meaning customers and hurting business. In these cases, consider operating a security gate after store closing hours. Security features like these can protect any remaining cars in your lot from thieves.
Parking Facility Security
Parking garages are less open than lots, which can make ensuring security around every corner difficult for garages. The multi-story aspect offers more parking for customers, but it also creates more challenges for security. Pillars and corners offer more hiding spaces for criminals and their vehicles, which makes added security crucial for a parking facility’s safety and function.
Tips for Boosting Parking Garage Security
Parking garages have their own unique security troubles, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t strategies you can use to make them safer. In fact, you can use some of the same tips and techniques that you would use to secure a parking lot to improve your parking garage’s condition. Here are a few security tips you can implement in your business’s parking garage or facility to help minimize crimes and promote safety for your patrons.
Install Lights in All Public Spaces
Keeping your parking garage well-lit is just as important as keeping a parking lot illuminated. Provide bright, clean lighting in all areas where your garage is open to the public. Bright lighting helps patrons find their vehicles more quickly and helps them feel safer while navigating your garage, especially at night. Adding light fixtures to illuminate dark corners and brighten up your stairwells also reduces the darkened spaces that criminals and thieves prefer.
Install Security/Surveillance Cameras
The mere presence of surveillance cameras is often enough to deter thieves and criminals from targeting a property. Consider installing surveillance cameras around your lot and hiring a professional to manage and monitor these feeds. If you already have security cameras on your lot, posting signage that cameras are present and recording can help increase their effectiveness. The thought of being recorded is often enough to prevent thieves from targeting a property or business.
Invest in Automated Parking Technology
If you’re not familiar with automated parking technology, it is a system of mechanical lifts that automate the parking process for your business. With mechanical parking systems, customers no longer have to park their cars themselves. Instead, they load their vehicles onto the lifting machine, which stores cars on vertical platforms. Elevating the vehicles keeps them out of criminals’ reach, preventing vehicle theft. Automated parking systems can also help reduce attacks and thefts targeting patrons. Crimes such as these are much less likely to take place in crowded, high-traffic areas. When all the patrons of your parking garage are contained to one central waiting lobby, there are far fewer chances for criminals to strike.
How To Start Securing Your Lot
Now that you know these tips for keeping your commercial parking lot or garage secure, you may be wondering where to start implementing them. Start with simple fixes and processes that make the most difference for your facility. For example, installing additional lighting fixtures is a smart way to illuminate more of your lot and help customers feel safer. Another installation to consider for safety is automated parking. These systems can help expand your parking facility while also promoting safety and increased security for vehicles and their passengers.
Start implementing these safety tips around your own parking lot or facility to see changes in traffic, enhance the customer experience, and promote peace of mind for both your business and its customers. And don’t forget to monitor your lot or facility regularly to see where you can make improvements to security aspects or upgrade your existing systems.
