Businesses take risks by reducing security

By GERTHA COFFEE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Security guards are a common sight at commercial properties, including office buildings, industrial sites, retail malls and residential complexes.

But the weak economy is leading to security cuts, experts say, which could open building owners and managers to lawsuits if a security breach results in harm to tenants, workers or visitors.

Increases in crime — along with employee layoffs and furloughs — created a need for more security, according to a survey earlier this year by ASIS International, an organization of security professionals. But budget restrictions resulted in hiring and training freezes and postponed equipment and technology purchases, according to the survey.

AlliedBarton Security Services, one of the nation’s largest contract security personnel companies, has seen customers cut service hours and man-hours in every sector it serves, said Keith Kepler, vice president and general manager of the company’s Atlanta office.

Innovative companies are improving security through a better blend of technology and personnel, Kepler said.

However, he said, “The danger and reality is, with budget cuts, we’re seeing cutting back without doing anything else creating new vulnerability and liability.”

Everybody is tightening belts, said Robert Friedmann, a professor of criminal justice at Georgia State University and a co-convener of a public safety conference Aug. 14 at Georgia State.

“Unfortunately, what will happen is some sort of disaster will strike and then some money will be found in the budget for security,” he said. “It’s the principle of putting a red light at an intersection after an accident.”

In that vein, security was ramped up after Sept. 11.

Dennis O’Connell, an insurance and risk management expert and partner in the international law firm Bryan Cave’s office in St. Louis, said that once certain measures are implemented — and then changed — “you open yourself up to liability if something happens.”

He recommends documenting decisions so they can be defended as being done for a good reason, “not just to save a buck.”

There’s always pressure to reduce costs, but cutting security would be a mistake, said Michael Hoffer, senior property manager at Bank of America Plaza.

“We’re not cutting back,” he said. “We’re continually looking for ways to enhance our security.”