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Threats faced by residents

Malcolm Stephens, group marketing executive at Fidelity Security Services believes that people living in residential estates face both external and internal security threats.

The external threats, he explains, include criminal forced or fraudulent entry into the estate and breaking into residences; hijacking and theft of vehicles; syndicate and gang related attacks; and opportunist thefts and breakings (often into unsecured premises) by building contractors and other legitimate visitors to the estate.

The internal threats Stephens refers to are incidents such as vandalism and abuse of estate rules by residents (especially children of residents); break-ins by criminal syndicates residing in or renting on the estate; opportunist thefts and break-ins (often into unsecured premises) by children of residents; and opportunist thefts and breakings (also often into unsecured premises) by employees of residents.

"Security issues have changed significantly as criminal elements have learnt of the protective measures used to promote estate security and devised new methods of combating such measures," Stephens says. "The criminal element has become much more sophisticated.

"Measures such as protective perimeter defences and alarmed fencing systems, access control at points of entry, proactive patrolling and response as well as technical systems have become standard practice in estates as ways to further increase the safety of the residents."

Fidelity Security Services offers a full range of estate security measures including estate management; access control; patrols; rules and regulations policing and enforcement; armed reaction; and liaison with local community police organisations. Technical services offered include CCTV; access control systems; alarmed fences; and panic and intruder alarms to cover the requirements of every type of residential property from the largest and most prestigious estates to the individual home.

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