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We’ll Always Keep the Light On

 

 

Bad Guys Want In
According to Chris McGoey, a noted security expert, “…hotel room invasion robbery” occurs more frequently than travelers may know. Private space invaders prowl hotel corridors in the evening, taking advantage of the situation (a reduced staff and an occupied room). Although the attack may appear to be random, it is likely that the guest and the room location have been under surveillance and the bad guy waits for the right moment to attack the guest.

Rune Venas, Assa Abloy Hospitality

Vulnerable and Planned
The most at risk travelers are women traveling solo, elderly guests, people flaunting their wealth or engaged in nefarious activities. Because the event has been planned in advance, the bad guy comes equipped with the tools of his profession: handcuffs, tape, rope and weapons.
Once inside the room, the perpetrators have complete privacy and they are able to take total control. Since they no longer have to worry about security staffers observing their activities, they can force guests to open safes, reveal cash and electronics, surrender car keys and PIN numbers and, after collecting all the valuables, vanish into the night knowing that the guest, bound and gagged, will be unable to get help until the morning.
While guests may talk about security concerns, in reality they do not believe it will happen to them. Hotel room crimes might decrease if guests could be persuaded to stop bringing cash, jewelry, and high-end branded clothing and electronics with them when they travel. Security alerts are discussed in all the media, but unfortunately, leisure and business travelers continue to be hell- bent on toting their valuables with them as they traipse around the planet.

Duane Firmani. Grandwest Casino and Entertainment World


Outsourcing Increase Vulnerability
South Africa’s Grandwest Casino and Entertainment World’s Security Manager, Duane Firmani finds that many room “penetrations” are perpetrated within the bubble, i.e. Staff. The increased number of outsourced employees creates many pitfalls, according to Firmani. In some cases he finds that “cheap labor is often not properly vetted and syndicates use these outsourced companies as conduits to infiltrate sleepers into the property, tasking them to target specific items, such as electronics and currency.”
Locking In or Locking Out
Situation crime is part of the hotel environment. No matter how sophisticated the locks, the bad guys are finding ways to enter the room, reach and disable their intended victims, steal their stuff and/or kill the guest.

“It is up to the individual to… take responsibility…”
Patrick M. Murphy, Marriott International

Patrick M. Murphy, Director of Global Safety and Security Services/Risk Management for Marriott International counsels that, “It is up to the individual to be wary and to take responsibility. In the Marriott Courtyard and Fairfield Inn properties we harden the target by making sure that perimeter doors are secured and key card accessible. The only open door is through the lobby and this is controlled by security and front office personnel.” Security information may also be available on the back of the door, on the key-card and the key-packet and should be read upon check-in, according to Murphy.
Firmani believes that, “…each room should be fitted with a panic button located next to the sleeping quarter and near the bathroom that can instantly alert the Front Desk/Security of an in In-Room Emergency. In some situations, guests may be unable to pick-up the telephone and vocalize the nature of the emergency because they are incapacitated by injury or the perpetrator is still on the scene.”
Guest Security: Not an Afterthought
Since it is not possible to reduce the rewards of crime, one would expect that crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) would be a reasonable approach to diminishing room invasions; build the hotel room in a fashion that prevents the bad guys from reaching their target. According to Dr. Ronald Clarke of Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, punishment and not prevention continues to be popular among USA business executives. This may be the accepted response - because no one has been able to figure out what else to do.

Firmani suggests that, “Whilst hotel properties want to portray an environment of safety and security, the International Guest who comes from a home-base of low criminality, gets lulled at times into a false sense of security and leaves items unattended, this allows opportunistic crime to be perpetrated.” According to Dr. Marcus Felson and Andrew Lemieux of Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, the denial of crimes against tourists is motivated by economics. Destinations, hotels and attractions rely on tourism expenditures for profitability. If visitors think they are heading to an unsafe hotel or destination, they will not go.

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Dr. Ronald V. Clarke, Rutgers School of Criminal Justice
 
 

 
09/03/10, 19:00:01 EDT

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We will always keep the light on

Bad Guys Want in


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