Security is a critical aspect to consider for any parking garage, especially if the facility is open late or overnight. Unfortunately, many garage managers overlook additional safety measures, which can pose potential dangers for visitors. Improving parking security solutions can prevent unauthorized users from entering the space and potentially decrease the risk of crimes.

How Do You Secure a Parking Garage?

There are many ways to implement and improve parking garage security. Advancements in technology have helped create automated safety mechanisms that add an extra layer of security and protection from potential dangers. Many aspects of a parking garage are now automatic, allowing visitors to use the service without interacting with an employee. While unmanned parking garages provide convenience, they can also lead to dangerous situations. Consider these 10 ways to improve parking garage safety.

1. Improve Lighting

One common-sense parking security solution is to provide adequate lighting and improve existing lighting. Upgrading lights is an affordable and effective way to improve parking garage security by minimizing dark or shadowy spots. A well-illuminated garage can increase tenants' and visitors' safety and comfort. Painting parking garage walls white or yellow can also improve brightness and reflect lighting to illuminate a space.

Checking the lighting levels of hallways, stairwells, and elevators can also be beneficial. When adding or upgrading lighting, you will want to consider its color and intensity. Dim lighting can make people uncomfortable and obscure actions. Adequate lighting can help ensure visitor safety and enable security to be aware of any hazardous activities in the parking garage.

2. Hire Security

Another way to increase parking garage safety is to hire security guards or security patrols. Hiring security is a standard measure to improve parking garage safety. Security officers can increase tenants' and visitors' comfort and prevent potentially dangerous people from entering the garage. If a security guard sees suspicious activity, they can immediately step in to provide support.

Additionally, if a visitor needs help or feels unsafe, they can quickly call a security guard. An authoritative presence can effectively deter crime and create a safe, welcoming environment. Security officers can also watch security cameras and footage to look out for potential dangers while helping to deescalate situations and deter loiterers from entering the parking garage.

3. Install Video Surveillance

Installing video cameras can help increase parking garage safety. If there is an incident, you can easily pull up a surveillance videotape, which can aid police officers if someone has committed a crime in the parking garage. Video surveillance is also a useful tool for security officers to employ during their shift to survey and patrol multiple parking garage areas at once.

If you install video surveillance, you should have someone keep an eye on these tapes. If an incident occurs and no one is watching the surveillance footage, unmonitored cameras may become a liability, since they create a false sense of security for visitors. A way to reduce potential liabilities is to use live video monitoring along with an audio deterrent, which can intimidate would-be trespassers and cause them to leave the scene before committing a crime.

4. Control Access With a Security Grille

Another helpful way to control access is to install a parking garage security grille. Parking garage security gates can prevent unwanted vehicle access and block unauthorized pedestrians from entering the area, adding another layer of protection.

Parking garage security grilles can protect visitors without negatively impacting visibility or airflow. Pairing a security grille with features such as cameras, directional signage, and security patrols can help create a safe atmosphere for visitors.

5. Implement Emergency Stations

Numerous emergency stations can help increase visitor safety and provide help during a potential crime. If a visitor feels threatened or unsafe, they need immediate help and would benefit from the reassurance that assistance is on the way. While most visitors likely own cellphones, they might not have a steady signal allowing them to make a call, especially if the parking garage is behind thick concrete walls or below ground.

Implementing emergency stations, such as wall-mounted boxes, towers, or panic buttons, can offer a reliable way for visitors to quickly and effectively ask for assistance. Pairing emergency stations with surveillance video and security officers can increase protection and make it easy to locate visitors who may need help.

6. Regulate Entry

Regulating who has access to a parking garage can help minimize the risk of potential trespassers and ensure everyone who visits the parking garage is there for a valid reason. Access cards and card readers can allow regular parkers to enter and exit a parking garage through special lanes or gates. Regulating access can also help determine what vehicles are present in the garage during an emergency.

You can lock pedestrian entrances in a garage with a card reader and keypad for employees or emergency first responders to enter. Audio intercoms linked to ticketing machines can provide immediate communication for help if a visitor has a question, experiences a complication, or requires immediate assistance.

7. Maintain the Parking Garage

Maintaining your parking garage is a critical component of keeping it a safe place for visitors. In most cases, dangerous activities typically occur in dark, shadowy spots or areas that lack monitoring and maintenance. Regularly replacing lightbulbs can keep your garage illuminated. Additionally, installing cameras in blind spots can minimize the potential for dangerous situations.

8. Use Clear Signage

Communication is a vital aspect of keeping your parking garage safe. Installing signage and directories is a way to indirectly communicate with pedestrians, tenants, and visitors to help them navigate the parking garage and stay safe. You can also use signage to indicate the presence of security patrols and video surveillance cameras to deter and prosecute potential criminals. Directional signs can also point visitors to emergency stations, security guards, and panic buttons.

9. Assess Strengths and Weaknesses

Regularly assessing your parking garage's strengths and weaknesses can help determine where you may need to take action to improve safety. While it's essential to be aware of your assets, you must also consider areas where your facility may not be as safe or well maintained. 

Prevent dangerous situations and crime by ensuring all aspects of your parking garage are safe and secure. If you find a specific entrance may be shadowy or unsafe, you can fortify this area to increase visitors' and employees' comfort and safety.

10. Educate Tenants and Visitors

Educating tenants and visitors about the precautions available to them is essential to maintaining a garage's safety. You can inform patrons about the security measures in place and the ways to reach an employee if they ever feel unsafe or uncomfortable. You can also explain how to use these systems effectively in case of an emergency.

Contact CornellCookson for Parking Garage Security Solutions

CornellCookson is a leading manufacturer of rolling doors and grilles. We produce customized closure solutions for hospitals, retail, restaurants, and many more facilities that require reliability and security. Our team is committed to providing high-quality and innovatively manufactured solutions for all our clients. We have a network with over 700 dealers and partners to ensure competitive pricing.

Learn more about our commercial grilles and doors by contacting us online or calling us at 800-294-4358.

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