Security surveillance provider Site Sentry is achieving significant reductions in crime and antisocial behaviour through its wholistic approach to security.
Contracted by the Department of Communities, the security company has restored a sense of safety to Parry Street Precinct and reduced police call outs by 91 per cent and monthly repairs by 87 per cent.
Prior to engaging Site Sentry, antisocial behaviour was prevalent within and around the eight heritage-listed properties that comprise the Parry Street Precinct located in Northbridge, and a major concern for the surrounding community.
Drug use, local break-ins, community discontent, and property damage averaging $40,000 per month were among the issues faced.
According to Site Sentry chief executive Paul McKiernan the Department of Communities was presented with a unique challenge.
“The heritage-listed sites were acting as magnets for antisocial behaviour, however, given their status the Department could not just go in and quickly renovate them.
“A lot of approvals are needed, and requirements must be met.
“So, the question was, what are we looking to achieve through these houses? Were they going to be used for homing people or, because of their historical significance, was it better to refurbish them and sell them on to use the funding for more adequate, modern public housing?
“What was apparent was they needed a solution to protect the buildings before any long-term decision could be made.”
Five steps to premium security
Beginning with an initial site assessment and security proposal, Site Sentry’s value proposition goes above and beyond that of simply supplying the equipment needed to retrospectively assess a crime that has taken place.
Site Sentry work to proactively prevent crimes or antisocial behaviour from taking place, and to take action when they do.
Site Sentry director Jason Nuttman said understanding the needs of the local community was key to providing the best service possible for the Department of Communities in the case of the Parry Street Precinct.
“Paul and I met on site with the Department and assessed the buildings before speaking with the neighbours to understand the issues they were having.
“For certain houses, people were breaking in and sleeping overnight with drug use frequently taking place.
“One of the houses caught on fire about three weeks before we were engaged and that was the tipping point for them. It started to become a safety issue,” Mr Nuttman said.
Following the initial assessment and approval of the security plan, Site Sentry proceeded to clean up the area as necessary and install the security devices; being the second step in the deployment process.
“One element of security is, when you have visible signs of graffiti and rubbish and something isn’t cared for, people feel more at liberty to just walk in without being turned away,” Mr Nuttman said.
“We secured the plywood windows, cut back vegetation so things were easier to see, mowed the lawn and collected a heap of rubbish.”
Mr Nuttman said once the clean-up and installation was complete, stage three of the process was to advise and instruct the client and the surrounding community on what to expect from the Site Sentry units and how to use them.
“We began by setting the devices up so alarms would go off during the day only to avoid disturbing residents at night, while the devices would light up when trespassers entered the site at night,” he said.
“Our security team would be immediately notified of a trespasser and would be on site within 15 minutes.”
Step four of the security deployment process is the ongoing security monitoring made possible via the Site Sentry devices.
“Paul and I take a huge amount of ownership when it comes to ongoing security monitoring for our clients. We made a conscious decision when creating our business plan to offer a premium service, which means we’re looking at quality of service over quantity of clients,” Mr Nuttman said.
“Just three weeks ago, it was about two o’clock in the afternoon on a Friday, we were monitoring our sites and were notified of a break-in.
“The device allows us to actually talk over our mobile through the speaker and communicate with nearby people, so I jumped on and said, ‘please leave site, this is private property, and you are not allowed here.’
“The person said to me, ‘my mate has overdosed, and we need help’.
“I could see on the camera the feet of a person lying down, so called the ambulance.
“We had our security guard there and an ambulance within 10 minutes and the person was adequately treated; so that added a lot of value to the Department of Communities, but also demonstrated the value of security to a community.”
Community feedback
Mr McKiernan said the police were blown away by the reduction in crime and police callouts to the Parry Street Precinct since Site Sentry were engaged.
“We’ve received fantastic feedback, not just from the Department of Communities and the police, but also by the local community members and business owners,” Mr McKiernan said.
“As the fifth step in our deployment model, we continue to monitor the site and do regular sweeps to adjust the Site Sentry’s and relocate them as required.
“When visiting the site, we often have community members approach us to shake our hands and thank us for the benefits that have flowed through to them from our service; and delivering that value is what it’s really all about.”
