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Keeping an eye on our eyes and ears

In the South African war on crime that has seen home robberies increasing nationally by some 64% over the past nine years, 75% of robberies occur at night when the homeowner’s guard is down.

This is according to analysis undertaken by the SAPS and published by the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) which found that the most vulnerable times are late evening between 21:00 and 23:59 and very early morning between 00:00 and 02:59.

Philip Smerkovitz

“These are the times when people’s guards are quite literally down. Drive around a few boomed off South African suburbs with a static guarding point and you’ll find at least one with a guard that is either asleep inside the guardhouse, or not 100% aware of the surroundings that he is supposed to be monitoring,” said Philip Smerkovitz, managing director of TeleEye South Africa.

“As a father, homeowner and concerned citizen, the fact that the human element was letting us down badly when people had invested so much in protecting themselves, disturbed me greatly whenever I drove past yet another dozing guard,” said Smerkovitz.

He added that the seriousness of the problem of inattentive residential guards is multiplied because, according to Statistics SA’s National Victims of Crime Survey (NVCS), half of households surveyed feared home robberies that occurred at night when they were home.

Home robbery, unlike house breaking (burglary), is regarded as a violent crime because people are at home when it takes place. In the US, this type of crime is more commonly known as home invasion, a more accurate term that implies the gravity of the crime and which is steadily catching on in South Africa.

Smerkovitz discussed the problem with colleagues at TeleEye, his CCTV remote monitoring and management consultancy, and they soon came up with an effective solution to keep guardhouse personnel on their toes. The result is TeleEye’s Guard Management Unit and its most innovative feature is a buzzer that sounds in the guard hut at pre-selected random times.

“The officer on duty has to actively respond to the buzzing sound by pushing a button in the guardhouse, or one that’s on his person. Failure to respond will cause the unit to connect to a remote control room where the operator has access to live video and two-way audio. An e-mail can even be sent when a response is missed, enabling comprehensive reporting. A further great feature is the fact that the management team is able to view sites remotely from their mobile phones,” explained Smerkovitz.

He added that the unit enhanced the safety of both the guardhouse personnel and residents at the same time. “An alert guard is less likely to be injured on duty,” Smerkovitz concluded.

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