Security for Car Dealerships

George Schneck
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The automotive industry has long been a prime target for thieves, and that doesn’t stand to change. In fact, data reveals that the premium on parts like catalytic converters makes the industry more vulnerable now than ever before. A 2021 study by the National Insurance Crime Bureau reported an average of 1,203 catalytic converter thefts per month in 2020, affecting commercial businesses as well as consumers. To reduce vulnerabilities, car dealerships must elevate their security strategies. Here are some ways to do it. 

Roll Back the Welcome Mat

To a certain extent, car dealerships are in the hospitality business. In order to make sales, management needs to provide an inviting atmosphere. The drawback to this is that the lack of vigilance can give way to vulnerability. A smart thief can steal a vehicle and leave a dummy key behind to throw employees off the trail. To have a vehicle go missing, all it takes is one salesperson looking the other way or one staff member leaving a key in the ignition. 

Dealership managers can reduce these incidents by placing more eyes on the floor, including the watchful eyes of video surveillance. We have cameras that operate in low light as well, so that nighttime thieves feel a lot less welcome. And with our business automation tools, you can pull back the welcome mat even further by scheduling times for the showroom lights to turn off and arming the security alarm remotely. 

Take an Extra Step    

Sometimes, the presence of cameras simply isn’t enough to prevent criminal activity. For car dealerships that have been victimized by auto thieves, video verification is the extra step needed for an effective surveillance strategy. 

Here’s how it works: When the motion of theft triggers the alarm, the alarm signal and the accompanying video footage go straight to our UL listed, Delaware-based monitoring station. From there, our live operator notifies the local authorities immediately. The video footage is what police use to verify the emergency so they can treat it as a crime in progress.

This immediately elevates it in priority so the incident gets a faster police response. Now, the chances of the thief being apprehended are greatly increased.  

Embrace Business Intelligence 

We’ve all heard that it’s important to work smarter, not harder. Business intelligence is the key to doing that. With security analytics we provide, you can find out how many people visited your showroom today, yesterday and the day before that. You can also learn what the highest traffic times of day are, and learn who entered a location, where they were and when they walked in. Our access control tools make it possible. This is the business intelligence car dealerships need in order to make critical security decisions (i.e. how many people on the floor, what entrances need access control, etc.) on a daily basis. 

Security Instrument has the tips and technology the auto sales industry needs to prevent theft. Car dealerships interested in any of the services mentioned here can call us today for a free commercial quote. 

About Security Instrument

From Fortune 500 to local SMB’s throughout the Tri-State area, Security Instrument integrates custom security systems to meet the needs of commercial clients.

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