Security

Physical security is a minimum expectation customers have of their self-storage providers. Self-storage renters are paying rent so that they can leave their belongings and return to find them safe and intact. Part of the services self-storage operators are offering customers is keeping their belongings secure.

Customer surveys show that the perception of adequate security is one of the three leading characteristics that attract new renters to a self-storage facility (curb appeal and convenience being the other two). Crime threatens self-storage owners and manager's ability to attract ad retain customers by critically impacting service delivery. While actual crime has decreased dramatically over the past 30 to 40 years, concerns with crime have not fallen. In fact, concerns about security and terrorism are higher than ever.

While the best time to put security systems into place is during facility planning and construction, self-storage sites can also be upgraded and enhanced with contemporary security measures at any time. Security installation typically falls within the five to six percent range of total initial facility development cost.

The sophistication of security systems can vary greatly from facility to facility, from individual unit alarms, comprehensive activity monitoring, and electronic access on the automated end of the spectrum, to staff scrutiny of new renters, adequate padlock requirements, and ample lighting on the low-tech end. Fancier facilities tend to employ more advanced, expensive security measures.

Crime impacts all aspects of life, personal and business, and crime in self-storage occurs withing this larger context of crime in America. Criminals are opportunities, taking advantage of situations that lend themselves to anonymity and easy access to goods. Self-0storage can seem tailor made for theft with its storage of personal property combined with discrete comings and goings.

Law enforcement and officials categorize crimes into two main groups: crimes against persons and crimes against property, with crimes against property involving no force or threat of force against those victimized.

Crimes against persons are unarguably the most serious, but the nature of the self-storage industry leads to a significant concern with property crimes, particularly theft. Property crimes make up over 75 percent of all crimes in America, and theft makes up 66.7 percent of property crimes. In addition to theft, employee fraud, storage of illegal and dangerous materials, violence, and graffiti are the most frequent crime-related concerns of storage owners and operators.

Besides the harm crime causes to victims, crime negatively affects employee morale, customer satisfaction, operation costs, and general community and individual well being. The costs of crime far exceed the value of stolen property. Those costs extend to include damage to both the renter's and the facility owners’ property, fire danger, civil suits, and loss of rental income.

By working to prevent crimes, self-storage owners and managers increase the stability of their rental base, lower operating costs, increase marketability, and reduce anxiety amongst staff. Crime prevention techniques include target hardening; this involves making properties less vulnerable to theft, renter and employee screening, management awareness of the signs of illegal activity and how to respond, and rental agreements that enable managers to take action when they suspect a renter or employee is engaging in criminal activity.

Security measures need not employ expensive or technically advanced equipment to offer renters, staff, and property adequate protection. That being said, computerized access control confers a sense of security that enables operators to charge an average of 30 percent higher rents. Security enhancement, therefore, can serve dual goals of protecting people and property and enhancing a facility's appeal to prospective renters. Security measures combine with a facility's convenience and overall physical appeal to attract new business.



For more information about the 2010 Self-Storage Almanac, please visit http://www.ministoragemessenger.com/cart/shopexd.asp?id=1998