The Stuff Security Guards Notice That Your Cameras Never Will

Cameras are everywhere in the business world. Millions of them capture footage from all angles in various places. Yet what’s truly surprising about them is that their footage misses a whole realm of security flaws and incidents that someone walking the property would have no problem spotting.

This is not to say that cameras are irrelevant. Cameras are great for catching things in front of them. But true security goes beyond recording events after they’ve already happened; it requires understanding what one sees and catching pre-incident markers that confirm something is amiss.

When Normal Isn’t Normal

A camera sees a car parked in the lot. A guard sees that the same car has been idling for three days and no one has approached it. A camera sees someone walking on the perimeter fence. A guard sees that the same person walked the exact same route yesterday and the day before, looking suspicious while staring around the entire area.

It’s called context. Cameras take a moment in time and fail to detect patterns. They capture video of something occurring without knowing if it’s normal for that time and place. Security professionals become familiar with properties over time; thus, they can determine if something is wrong — even if the something is seemingly innocent — just because it’s out of place.

A gate left ajar might trigger no alarms for a camera, but a guard who knows that gate gets locked every night at closing will notice immediately. Someone hanging out under a loading dock may just be taking a smoke break, or they may be casing the joint for an entry point later on. But the difference is plain as day to someone who knows better.

The Physical Things Cameras Can’t See

It’s surprising to see how much casual reconnaissance there is on any given business property if one were to take a moment and walk around. Chips and scratches around a lock to see if it’s a force entry-worthy access point. Scuff marks by a window as someone tests whether or not it can slide open. A slight bending of a fence piece. Footprints amidst dirt where no one should be walking.

While cameras pointed in those directions may pick up footage of these findings, they aren’t looking for small details. Someone would have to sit through hours upon hours of footage reviewing only those minor details — and even then, they wouldn’t be as well visible as they would be to the naked eye standing right there.

Guards on security patrols adelaide notice mulch has been displaced near an access point. They observe that lights that were working last night are now out, yet they’ve been on every night for months. They can see evidence of door handles being tested or security measures being checked at the last possible moment — even when such testing isn’t caught on camera because it may not seem like a big enough deal.

These check-ups occur before a burglary is attempted. Properties are being tested to see what security measures are in place and if anyone is truly watching. The physical evidence of this testing lies right in front of them, but basically invisible to camera systems that record general footage.

What You Can Smell and Hear

Cameras don’t smell smoke until flames have already caught fire. They can’t hear machinery whirring incorrectly or strange noises that indicate something is askew. But surveillance systems don’t have these very obvious preliminary red flags when someone is physically present.

Someone walking by a utility room might hear something not sounding quite right with a machine inside. Someone walks by and smells something — gas, chemicals, anything — indicating there may be a leak somewhere else in the vicinity. Someone notices an area feels eerily hot or cold — a sign of an HVAC issue or an outdoor door left ajar. All of these things have no bearing on video footage.

But this sense of early warning can prompt minor issues versus major catastrophes. Oftentimes electrical malfunctions give off a smell before anyone can see anything. Water issues make a sound before puddles form in an area where cameras finally see them. But these warnings only happen when someone is there to sniff and hear them out.

Actually Doing Something About It

When someone who shouldn’t be on a property shows up on camera, there’s nothing to do but record it. When security patrols spot someone who shouldn’t be there, they can take action immediately. Having someone present who can respond right away makes all the difference when it comes to security.

This isn’t just people acting suspiciously on a property; it’s also those who may need assistance looking lost or trying to determine if someone is paying attention to them — or employees staying later than expected or someone lingering around the edge of the property to see what’s happening next door or on the other end.

Guards can ascertain these situations through human conversation that videos never can. They determine what’s going on, assist if needed, and discern that real people are on site monitoring what’s going on — deterring anything before it even has the chance to become an issue.

Reading Body Language

Someone acting suspiciously vs. someone acting routinely both may appear similar on video; however, it’s only in non-verbal body language movements that humans catch instinctively where they’re able to discern differences that video footage doesn’t capture effectively.

People who are looking for something, casing properties, moving cautiously do not move like people who belong there; they check for cameras, look at security mechanisms, pay attention to things that ordinarily curious patrons overlook.

Their body language gives off intentions that play out effectively in person but disappear on video. Guards see evasion, nervousness, or purposeful movements of someone plotting something big and changes in behavior based on facial recognition from a distance realizing they’re being watched.

All The Other Issues That Occur

Security isn’t only about potential thieves; it’s also about recognizing other problems that could result in injuries, lawsuits, and extensive property damage.

None of these occur on video when cameras focus mainly on recording activity as they happen; instead, this happens regularly throughout the day during physical patrols and represents minor developments that would otherwise go unseen.

Tripping hazards appear out of nowhere; lights go out in various locations; doors which should remain locked get propped open; safety gear no longer exists; spills become slip-and-fall risks; machinery gets placed in stupid areas where accidents occur; none of this registers as important except for guards out making rounds.

Guards who walk properties spot this stuff during routine rounds and either take care of them or flag them for resolution and prevent accidents from happening as well as avoiding business liability that would otherwise not show up until someone gets hurt on camera.

Getting to Know The Property

The longer security works somewhere, the more they know what’s normal for that property because they know how many cars belong there, which staff works late nights for delivery, and how things should look at different times throughout shifts.

This means every patrol becomes an expert check instead of just a circular walk; anything amiss becomes a red flag instantly no matter how small it is because guards know better because they’ve been there long enough to recognize what should and shouldn’t be present.

Cameras continuously catch footage of the same round but fail to understand what they’re seeing; they capture audio-visual evidence but fail to comprehend what’s going on — an experienced guard develops real familiarity meaning everything they notice is far more valuable than recorded footage.

Why You Need Both

That said, this doesn’t mean cameras are less important than human patrols; they’re still incredibly useful as they provide a means to an end to documenting what’s going on, covering all areas all the time, and capturing real evidence when things go awry.

Cameras do one thing well; physical patrols do another thing well; properties with both systems have security that can handle different types of threats through different systems because each takes advantage of different approaches.

The companies who stay most secure understand this difference and implement both systems the proper way instead of assuming technology alone will cover everything.