Don’t worry, we’re not talking about discouraging residents from grilling out and celebrating their favorite sports team. Rather, we’re focusing on ways you can prevent unauthorized individuals from entering your community.
The concept of tailgating, or piggybacking, refers to when an individual closely follows another person who is authorized to gain entry into a restricted area or past a certain checkpoint. This is one of the most common security breaches, as it’s typically a fairly innocent exchange.
Example: a resident uses their HID card to get into the main doors of your condo community. Someone walks up behind them and asks if they can hold the door open. Most people wouldn’t refuse and slam the door on that person. The problem is that no one truly knows what that person’s intentions are. Are they an actual resident who doesn’t have easy access to their HID card? Are they an approved visitor going to see a friend who lives in the building? Are they a criminal looking to scope out the property?
To prevent tailgating – unauthorized individuals from accessing your community, consider implementing the following five anti-tailgating strategies.
Perform a Security Audit
The best way to identify vulnerabilities in your community before issues occur is through a security audit. A security audit allows you to analyze your community to determine what must be protected (both physical items and residents), identify all potential threats against your community, and develop tactics to address them.
Educate Your Residents
It’s important to educate your residents about the potential risks they’re taking when they hold the door open for someone they don’t know. While you shouldn’t recommend them slamming the door on people, encourage them to ask questions, like:
- Hey, just want to make sure you actually live in this building. What unit do you live in?
- Oh, you’re visiting someone? Here let me walk you to the front desk where they can get you checked in and show you to your friend’s residence.
Implement Credentialed Access
If your residents are using actual keys to get into the building, it might be time to modernize your community by implementing a credentialed access system. This will enable you to create rules around which doors and areas residents and visitors have access to, and which ones they don’t.
Use Simplified Visitor Management
The traditional way of getting visitors into a community can be a pain for residents. If they have to call the front office to inform them about an upcoming visitor, or even worse, if they have to meet someone at the front door or gate to let them in, residents will be much more likely to encourage visitors to tailgate their way into the building. Consider implementing visitor management system that allows residents to create visitor passes from their phone, tablet, and computer. That way, visitors can easily enter the community without the resident having to leave their house.
Setup Cameras
Cameras are an excellent way to keep track of who’s entering and leaving your community.However, they’re most effective when someone is actually monitoring them. If you have a front desk attendant or guard, encourage them to keep a close eye on the cameras. When they notice something like a tailgater, train them to go find the person to verify they’re an actual resident or approved visitor.
Looking for additional ways to improve the safety of your community? Get your free copy of our 7-Step Checklist for Securing Your Community.
