THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9408030640
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: By Gage Harter, Business Weekly Staff
LENGTH: Long : 138 lines
Not long after Abraham Lincoln entered the White House, Allan Pinkerton set up a service whose sole mission was to guard the president. Pinkerton soon was in demand in a country where the neighbor down the street was as likely to be armed as Jesse James.
Pinkerton hunted crooks, guarded millionaires, launched the forerunner of the U.S. Secret Service and fathered a whole industry of private police forces.
But today, Pinkerton hardly would recognize America's security industry. Business has boomed. Thank the electronics revolution.
Pinkerton's 19th century security service relied on employees in uniform to be visible deterrents. Now, the tiny microchip is becoming the star.
From the loading docks at Newport News to the office towers in downtown Norfolk, security cameras, heat sensors and listening devices are increasingly common.
``Five years ago we had 350 accounts,'' said Mark Wilging, president of Sonitrol of Tidewater, which specializes in electronic security. ``Now we're right around 3,000.''
One of the objectives of the electronic security devices is to replace guards,'' said Joseph P. Freeman, head of Joseph P. Freeman & Co. of Newtown, Conn., a firm that gathers information on the security industry.
That's not to say the number of guards has plunged. Sensing that crime has outpaced the resources of police, companies have brought in their own security guards.
By decade's end, 1.9 million people will work in private security, almost triple the 700,000 employed with tax money in traditional police and other law-enforcement agencies, says the Hallcrest Report, a 1990 analysis of security trends.
What's also happening, though, is a steady movement toward electronic eyes and ears. Last year, factory shipments in the United States surpassed $781 million for access-control products such as card readers and biometric machines able to measure voice, fingerprints or lines on the hand.
Counting everything from burglar alarms to biometrics to stationing senior citizens in blue uniforms in mall parking lots, the private security industry could generate $103 billion in revenue by 2000. That's up 59.6 percent from the $64.5 billion spent in 1993, estimates the Security Industry Association, a Wash-ing-ton trade group.
Pinkerton Security & Investigative Services, with $772 million in '93 revenue, is the largest company specializing in protection. It's not alone, though.
Our main philosophy is not scaring away the intruder, but catching that intruder so he isn't free to do it again,'' said Lawrence M. Bond Jr., Sonitrol branch manager.
More than 12,000 security companies operate throughout the nation, including Sonitrol, which says it has helped Norfolk and Virginia Beach police capture more than 90 burglars.
Small microphones placed in a building can pick up even muffled sounds and alert a Sonitrol control booth miles away. Some microphones can hear sounds a half-mile away. One relayed the sound of the heartbeat of a burglar hidden in a ceiling panel, Bond said.
Customers get small gadgets called panic remotes they can turn on when in trouble. The gadgets alert operators in the control booth, where another machine automatically rings the customer's telephone, allowing the operators and the customer to talk about what is happening.
Sonitrol's control booth, called the hot seat, is in Virginia Beach. Workers monitor a panel linked to about 3,000 accounts, many of them commercial buildings empty of peo-ple at night.
The system is designed to set off a flashing alarm in the control booth when anyone enters a building in which the security sensors are turned on. Once inside, anyone can switch off the alarm if they enter the proper code on the electronic control panel mounted in the building.
``It takes three to five seconds after the trip for us to get the alarm,'' Sonitrol vice president Greg Christos said.
One recent evening when an alarm sounded in a house, Sonitrol control booth monitor David Lesinski immediately scanned his computer data. He found the address and the location of the tripped alarm inside the house. Then he dialed the phone number in the house.
A woman answered. With the telephone line between Lesinski and the customer open, she didn't need to speak on the phone. She could hear and talk with Lesinski from any part of the house. The microphones placed inside as listening devices served as a phone.
``Sorry guys, my dog tripped the alarm,'' the woman said.
``Oh, OK, what is your name and your password?'' Lesinski replied.
She responded correctly. Lesinski offered her a good evening.
``Now if she had answered an incorrect password, then we would have dispatched police to the scene,'' Lesinski said.
Lisa Cooper, Sonitrol central station manager, said people in the control booth can't listen secretly. Only a tripped alarm sets in motion the equipment that allows the operators to hear what's happening in a customer's building, Cooper said.
Electronic systems aren't cheap. To put three microphones in a house and link them to the control booth, Sonitrol charges $1,900. There's also a service fee, $40 a month.
With the system, though, can come a sense that the building has a level of security beyond that offered by the police.
``We protect Fort Knox, the Alamo and the Liberty Bell,'' Christos boasted. ``If we can secure those places, than we can secure just about anything.''
Today, electronic security devices and private guards are common. But many police insist the traditional officer on patrol will not become obsolete.
Speaking about the electronic measures, Virginia Port Authority police Lt. Ralph Garcia said, ``It is only as good as the person who monitors it.''
Garcia, whose team patrols Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal and Newport News Marine Terminal, favors police for their skills.
``A security company is only required to supply a body,'' Garcia said. ``Now that could be someone different every night. Also, in an environment where activity is constant, there needs to be trained officers and simply having a pair of eyes is not enough. . . . And besides, security guards only have the same power of arrest as a citizen.''
Last year, the terminals handled 7.4 million tons of cargo worth an estimated $20 billion. According to the port police, losses were only $25,000.
Hampton Roads private security guards, who earned an average of $7.29 an hour in 1991, also work at the ports. Eddie Worrell, a Pinkerton captain, has walked the beat at Jonathan Corp.'s ship repair yard for seven years.
``Our visibility is the biggest deterrent you can have,'' Worrell said.
Guards make hourly rounds. They check mooring lines, boiler gauges, restrooms for stowaways and the backup generator in case a storm knocks out the power.
``We are trained to handle problems,'' Worrell said. ``First we take care of the situation, then we call for assistance.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover by John Joseph Kotlowski
Mark Wilging, president of Sonitrol of Tidewater...
Color photos by John Joseph Kotlowski
Lawrence M. Bond Jr., branch manager of Sonitrol
Annie Dawson, Sonitrol...
Eddie Worrell, a Pinkerton captain...
Color chart
KEYWORDS: SECURITY SYSTEM SECURITY INDUSTRY by CNB