 |
| Store Director Charles Montgomery's Office in Yellow |
You ever wonder why so many businesses
install security cameras? I know the initial impulse is to catch people
stealing. But in order for that to happen, you have to have someone with an eye
on every customer (and even employee) in the store in real time. A grocery
store is no way like a Las Vegas casino and they are not going to pay someone
to just sit and watch the live footage as it rolls. No, businesses record stuff
in case a customer slips and falls. Or, more accurately, to see if a customer
fakes slipping and falling. It is a defensive measure in case they get sued. And even a smaller grocery chain like
Reason’s was not immune to this. So Langley was wired up with a wide variety of
security cameras.
Needless to say, with a rambunctious
electrician’s apprentice on staff in Lance, we went through a little rewiring
and redistribution of these security cameras to give us a little more added
security. Every entrance – be it our roll up doors or those heavy steel
emergency exits – was outfitted with two cameras so we could see thing from
multiple angles. Our main point of entry and exit, the Produce Dock and the
Grocery Dock are covered from all angles. We positioned a few along the front
of the store to give us a view of the parking lot. Also, the cameras that
originally watched the parking lot were rotated from their elevated position which
now gives us a pretty nice view of the highway out front.
Sure, it is August now and the nights
are actually quite enjoyable but we are not going to ask people to maintain a
sentry duty on the roof in January when the temperature dips below freezing.
The security cameras are all hard
wired into a server station in what was the Store Director’s Office. The
computer station that monitors the whole store throws up multiple displays and
then you can specifically select any camera that you want. It is a pretty easy
set up to master and almost everyone has had a turn at the controls.
At this point, I am not tremendously
concerned with zoms breaching our defenses. It is nice to see when a contingent
does start swarming around the back door or we can see them coming up the
service road. Snipers can be dispatched to the roof quickly and sometimes the
threat can be neutralized before they even get close.
What I am concerned with is someone
backing up to one of the docks with a metal hook, a length of chain, and a 4x4.
The front is so barricaded with the trucks and the pallets of products, I
cannot conceive of anything short of an army or the Army getting through from
the front.
However, I do feel that the back
entrance is vulnerable. And, ask anyone who has been to prison, you do not want
your back entrance vulnerable. (Am I right, men?) We may need to work on
fortifying that position but we still need access in and out. To be considered
and continued…
