Question1
For this particular scenario, I would use several layers of security because this compound is comprised of various components or buildings each having different significance or importance. Using different security for each layer would ensure that even if intruders are able to breach through one layer, they will be incapable of breaching the other layers using the same techniques that they might have used for the previous one (Bernard, 2007). I would, therefore, invite the best security experts to ensure the particular component of security that has been used one layer is not used on the other. The corporate has campus three major sets of building with each having a different level of significance. Therefore, even when it comes to the security of each of these buildings, I would ensure that each of the buildings has its own distinctive security systems.
The first element of security that I will incorporate is an electric perimeter wall. This wall will surround the main campus. The electric wall will be comprised of live wires that are on at every time. There will only be two openings across this perimeter wall. The first opening will be the school’s main gate. This will be located at a strategic location that is accessible to all students and that is exposed to the rest of the community. The perfect place for the main gate will a little distance from the interstate highway ramp.
However, for the part of the campus boundary that is directly exposed to the highway, the electric fence will be reinforced by another thick fence made of vegetation. The best type of vegetation to be used is the plant referred to as K-Apple. The vegetation fence which will run across the part of the campus fence that is exposed to the fence highway will ensure that the high ramp is not used as surveillance platform by criminals who may have ill intentions of invading the campus grounds. The fact that the campus is directly next to an interstate ramp means that thugs who want to invade the campus may use the ramp as a surveillance point to see what goes on inside. However, with thick fence made of vegetation, their visibility will be significantly reduced.
The most important buildings in this campus premises are obviously the administrative building which houses all the important records and the building that houses the pharmaceutical company because there could be some key research data at this peace that could be vulnerable is vulnerable to theft.
The security of these buildings will be reinforced by a building control access system. This security system will guide who enters and leaves the buildings. The organization will issue all individuals who are allowed access into these buildings with a special security card that will be swiped at all the doors of these two major buildings that will allow people to get in. This means that anyone without this specially issued card will not be able to access the buildings at any time.
All buildings in the campus will then be fitted with an intrusion detection system. This will be made active daily after the school has closed for the night. The most recommendable intrusion detection system will be motion sensors such as lasers systems. These lasers will be placed at the hallways of the three major buildings including the administrative building, the sensitive research sections including the laboratories as well as the computer room.
The next element of the security system will be video surveillance. CCTV cameras will be fitted at all the buildings of the campus. The cameras will be fitted in places that are inconspicuous, and that cannot be easily detected even by intruders. All the cameras will relay feedback to a special security room where there will be a security guard or an agent at all times manning all the major cameras in the campus.
Physical security will also be provided in terms of security guards who will be stationed at each and every building in the premises. The security guards will guard the entrances of the major buildings and anything suspicious will immediately be addressed.
The other major element of security will be the placement of panic and duress buttons across several strategic places of the campus. All the panic buttons will be connected to the main alarm system whereby after pressing the button, a message will be immediately transmitted to the central security station inside the campus which will have standby agents at all times. The security system will be able to show exactly where the panic button was pressed and since there will most likely be a CCTV camera nearby, it will be first of all be used to indicate what could be happening and then, security guards will be dispatched to the area immediately.
The other element of security will be security lights that will be installed at strategic points throughout the campus. They will be particularly be placed at the buildings housing the most sensitive data, information or records. This will go a long way in deterring potential or would be intruders.
Question 2
The newly renovated apartment building is located in an area that is located on the crime laden area. The fact that the building’s parking lot extends to the city streets does not help the situation as it means that thugs from the city streets could steal from people even when they are in their cars. Although there is a proposed buffer region or area, this will not necessarily do anything to prevent crime from spilling from the city streets right into the apartment building.
The best security option is that at the point where the green landscaped area that extends into around the apartment complex ends, a fence is erected. This fence could, for instance, be made of wire mesh. This fence will prevent criminals who may be walking on the sidewalk to be discouraged from popping into the building and committing crime.
One risk element of this apartment complex arises from the fact that there it is placed in an area that has a high amount of crime about a quarter mile away. The fact that the apartment complex has been newly renovated could be a signal to the criminals that some affluent people have moved in, and they could be prompted to start carrying out their criminal activities in this area. In fact, many criminals might start hovering around stalking and studying the residents of the building and marking them for later mugging. In addition, just next to the apartment building are streets with old businesses, empty buildings, liquor stores, and bars. These are all breeding grounds for criminals (Fay, 2007). The empty houses particularly seem to be an area of concern as this is where many criminals may be potentially hiding, planning out their criminal activities.
As mentioned earlier, one of the most vulnerable areas of this apartment complex seems to the parking lot. The large overflowing parking lot extends into the city streets. This is obviously very dangerous. If anything, the parking lot of the building should not be located on the side that is exposed to the city streets but should be perhaps be behind the building. It has already been mentioned that the garage under the building is only allowed to house one car from each apartment. If this garage cannot be expanded due to space constraint, then the overflowing parking lot should be accompanied by security measures. Once again, the erection of a wall of to separate the parking lot and the city streets should take place. A stone wall would be the most appropriate in this case or scenario. In addition, glass spikes placed at the top of this security wall would prevent the likelihood of criminals jumping over the fence or the wall and into the parking lot (Fay, 2007). These security measures are necessary because the parking lot has immense vulnerability. In this section, it is not only the cars that are at risk but people are at risk too. The fact that the parking located is next to a city street means that a criminal could steal a car and disappear right into the city streets never to be seen again. People could also be mugged, for example in the evenings when they are disembarking from their cars, and the thief would simply disappear into the streets before an alarm can be raised.
The landscaping plans should first of all be shelved. This does not look like an area to have such lucrative elements. This might be in fact a way of inviting criminals to come rob people because a beautifully landscape is obviously as a sign of affluence and considering that the apartment complex is located in a crime laden area, this might not be advisable. It might not be a viable option given the issues at hand.
I would advise that two permanent security offices with specially employed guards be opened within the apartment building. One should be at the main gate and the other should be in an undisclosed location within the complex so that even if intruders are somehow able to penetrate the building without going through the main gate, they will not be aware of a security detail inside the building that can pounce on them at any minute.
I also propose that a high tech security system be enacted throughout the complex. This could, for instance, involve security cameras placed at strategic places outside the corners of the building to survey the outside activities. For example, one should be placed in the part of the complex that is directly exposed to the city streets. After the construction of the stone wall to separate the parking lot from the city streets, a camera should be put on top of this stone wall to survey the outside environment., All the cameras should have a direct feed to a central surveillance system inside the apartment building whereby a guard will always be on standby and will warn other guards if something suspicious springs up and actions will be taken immediately.
Question 3
The case of Doris Franklin is very tricky indeed. There are a lot of issues and facts that needs to be considered before it can be determined who is at fault. There is a lot of premises liability issues in this case. Perhaps it would be wise first to get an idea of what exactly premise liability refers to. Under general definition, premises liability refers to the principles of law that holds tenants and landowners responsible when an individual enters their property and is then hurt because of a dangerous condition existing in these premises (Weissenberger & McFarland, 2014). A majority of claims related to premise liability have their basis in negligence whereby the landowner or tenant is accused of negligence (Weissenberger & McFarland, 2014).
In the case of Doris Franklin, a claim of premise negligence could be advanced against the university. A campus is usually a very huge place that houses a lot of buildings. Sometimes, navigating through this premises especially at night can be a very dangerous affair as it is possible for one to be mugged.
In spite of the danger that exists in university premises, the university nevertheless is charged with ensuring the security of not only students but also the workers at all time, day at night. Most universities do not have curfews or restrictions for their students and workers meaning that anyone is free to walk around the campus at any time.
When a curfew is placed for instance if students and workers member are disallowed from walking around the campus after a certain time, for example after 2 a.m., it means that any student or workers who decides to walk around the campus after that time does so at their own risk. If such an individual is exposed to a dangerous situation and faces harm after the curfew period, they do not have the right to cry foul and blame the university authorities. In this case, however, in this case, a part of the blame has to go to the campus authorities. Campus authorities are charged with the role of ensuring security of each and every member of this institution
The university has a police unit that is supposed to provide security to campus members. In this case that happened at State University, it appears the campus police in understaffed and incompetent. This is obviously very dangerous for a unit that is supposed to serve an institution comprised of thousands of students and workers
When Doris asked for police escort from the campus police, she was promised that an officer would be there in exactly twenty minutes if she waited. This first of all reveals the incompetence of the campus police. The campus police is supposed to provide help and service the moment that any student or any worker asks for it but in this case, one is being told to wait for 20 minutes, These 20 minutes could be the difference between life and death. But the campus police seem to be oblivious of this fact.
The officer who is sent to escort Ms. Franklin delays in picking her up because he has gone to a drive-by window to pick up coffee. He is doing this because he had already missed his break which he would have otherwise used to pick this coffee. He cannot, therefore, be blamed. Rather, the blame should go to the university management which has hired an incompetent police unit.
Although it might be argued that Ms. Franklin was at fault for leaving before her escort arrived, this blame is unwarranted. She only did what any other human being would do. She waited for 30 minutes, which is actually 10 minutes more that she was supposed to and when she saw that help was not forthcoming, she decided to venture out on her which of course ended very tragically. In conclusion, the campus is liable for the harm done to Doris Franklin and should be made to compensate her.
Question 4
These schools may have internal criminal environments that are characterized by drugs and weapons availability, vandalism, theft, assault and gang memberships among other aspects of crime and deviance (Nolle et al. 2005). In the light of this, various steps and measures have to be taken by not only the school authorities but by the entire school district to ensure that the school environment is devoid of any criminal activity and is therefore safe for learning.
In addition, another short-term strategy is physical surveillance. The school should consider hiring a few guards and security agents who will search all the student making their way into the institutions for weapons, drugs and other related contraband.
The other recommendable strategy is the formulation of new school rules and policies that dictate the punishment that awaits anyone who is found engaging in deviant behavior whether gang involvement and activity, theft vandalism, drug selling and so on. This one is more of a long-term strategy. The other long strategy that might alleviate this situation is the initiation of instruction based programs that are targeted at those individuals who commit crime. These programs will target those individuals who engage in crime by teaching them that there is more to life than crime. Every student will be welcome to these programs. The programs will also have an element of counseling. Once again, the element of counseling will be aimed at the students who are considered to be at risk.
Another strategy would be to profile the students at the school who exhibit potential for violent and deviant behavior and then taking them through counseling sessions. If these individuals’ behavior is found to have changed, then they can be allowed to continue learning in school. However, if they continue exhibiting tenancies of violence, then their parents will be advised to find new schools for them since the presence of such students in the school may inspire others to become deviant themselves.
Question 5
When the amount of common crimes including theft, assault, burglary, assaults and other increase in particular vicinity, then it is clear that the current placing strategies are not working or functioning effectively (Roberg et al., 2000). It means that it is time for new strategies to be developed. It means that the current strategies need to be reviewed and improved because it is quite obvious that they are deficient. In addition, this occurrence necessitates the development of both as short term strategy that will deal with these crimes immediately as well as ling term strategy.
As one of the police executives charged with the role of executing change, my short term strategy would be really simple indeed. This strategy would be to increase the number of officers, the number of patrols cars and dispatch vehicles to the limit that the budget can allow. One common cause of one factor that has somehow contributed to the increased crime in the society is because of the lack of enough police presence. When the number of police officers and the numbers of patrol cars on the street are not sufficient, criminals think that they have a leeway to act as they wish and may, therefore, engage in crime enormously. This is indeed one of the factors that have directly contributed to the increased crime patterns on this community. If any change is to be realized, it is clear that there needs to be an increase in the number of officers enforcing the law. Criminals will be deterred by increased police presence, and there will be no doubt that the level of crimes will reduce. In addition, increased number or patrol and dispatch cars means that whenever an incidence of crime is reported, the police can respond very fast, and further damage or harm may be averted. Where there is an inadequate number of police officers and vehicles, responding to 9/11 class involving crime may not be effective but an increased number of cars will mean the officers can respond very fast to any reported crime incidences.
The long strategy that I would adopt is community policing.
This is where the police and the community collaborate to reduce incidences of crime (Roberg et al., 2000). This particular strategy is long term because once, its principles are embedded into the society; then there is no way to remove them. I will be in the forefront of encouraging my officers to engage with the community directly when it comes to subverting crimes. The barrier that often existed between the community and law enforcement is removed, and the officers start being viewed as friends by the community (Roberg et al., 2000). One of the ways through which this will done is by organizing police community workshop and seminars where the community will be taught how to detect suspicious persons or persons of interest in the street and how to deal with them. The community will also be taught who to protect themselves from crime. The community will be trained to become the police eyes and ears in the streets, and when this active collaboration between the police and the community is established, the levels of crime will go down significantly.
References
Bernard, R. (2007). Information Lifecycle Security Risk Assessment: A tool for closing security gaps. Computers & security, 26(1), 26-30.
Fay, J. (2007). Encyclopedia of security management. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Nolle, K. L., Guerino, P., Dinkes, R., & Chandler, K. (2007). Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in US Public Schools. Findings from the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2005-06. NCES 2007-361. National Center for Education Statistics.
Roberg, R. R., Crank, J. P., & Kuykendall, J. (2000). Police & society. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury.
Vellani, K. (2006). Strategic security management: a risk assessment guide for decision makers. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Weissenberger, G., & McFarland, B. (2014). The Law of Premises Liability. LexisNexis.
