The recent alleged kidnapping of a young woman in Sandton has surely opened some eyes to the importance of access control. Effective security measures are based on the simple principle of deter, detect, react, and access control would be top of the list as a deterrent to potential thugs.
On that note, we have switched the topics for our September and October issues, September will now focus on alarm monitoring and control as well as intrusion detection. Access control and related issues like time and attendance, ID systems, biometrics and intercom systems will be the feature for October.
Back to the basics of security - if they manage to get through the deterrent aspect of the system, they need to be detected, which is where surveillance plays a large role. Detection of assets is better done through tagging, obviously, but I heard on the news this morning that some prisons in the UK are planning to tag prisoners. This would certainly have helped track down the prisoner who was being held on murder charges but managed to escape a few months ago. Many precious man hours were wasted in the ensuing search, only to find he was already once again behind bars, having been arrested for some other reason.
And what about missing children? Would it be right to tag your child? I mean pets get little chips inserted so that they can be reunited with their owners if found and surely your child means at least as much to you as your pet does? But then I guess there are huge invasion of privacy risks as they get older ...
On the subject of detection, the '2004 DVR Review' is featured in this month's issue. The review features some of the best of what is on offer from a multitude of companies. Have a look and get up to speed with the latest features of the technology and also what is available from whom.
React. Well, there are as many options here as there are reactors, but many gun owners were momentarily stunned by various reports about gun owners and certificates of competency, new gun laws etc. A newsflash issued in July by the Security Association of South Africa (SASA) reads:
"New firearms act: all existing gun licences still valid
'All private and company gun licences which were valid under the previous firearms legislation are still valid, and will be so until replaced - within five years - under the new firearms control legislation which came into effect today,' said SA Police Services superintendent, Andrew Lesch.
Speaking at a meeting held in Johannesburg by the Gauteng branch of the SASA, superintendent Lesch said that there was 'no truth to the rumour that all gun licences are invalid, or that guarding companies can no longer issue firearms to their guards.
'The new Firearms Control Act makes provision for a transition period of up to five years for both private and company held firearms to be licensed under the new law. Guarding companies in particular have until 31 December 2006 to ensure that all weapons are properly licensed,' he said.
'To obtain a licence under the new legislation will entail the possessor being able to gain a certificate of competence from an accredited training provider,' Lesch added.
The clarification of the transition period arrangements was welcomed by Kevin Derrick, chairman of the SASA-linked Security Industry Association's task group on firearms, who also addressed the SASA Gauteng meeting. 'We had asked for this clarification several months ago, and had it been forthcoming there would in all likelihood never have been the urgent Supreme Court application.'
A large number of guarding companies in particular had been left under the impression that they would have been unable to fulfil their contractual obligations with the introduction of the new act."
Till next month,
Lynne Larsen
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