Most of the time gas stations are never a fun place to go. You are spending way too much money to fill your tank and you might get aggravated because the person in front of you can’t pull up to the first pump to allow you to get gas as well. I mean the list goes on and on, there’s a million reasons why people want to avoid the gas station. Theft and robbery is probably number one on this list, well maybe number two because the price of gas is insane! Gas station surveillance is very important for the safety of customers and employees.
Jumping right into this lets be clear. You will never be able to effectively prevent gas station robberies, or any robbery for that matter. However, you could definitely catch the criminals in the act and help the authorities bring them to justice. Who knows? Maybe even some of them will see the cameras and be deterred. Most thieves are not even paying attention when it comes to looking for cameras. Generally a gas station robbery will not be a well thought out process, more times than not it will be spur of the moment, and in cases like that mistakes are made and can easily be caught on camera.
While cameras are a great idea for gas station owners, they may not be the only thing necessary for the safety of their employees. Go ahead and take it one step further and look into some access control, because door locks can only do so much. Have you ever been to a gas station after midnight? 9 times out of 10 the doors will be locked and you are forced to use a window and the clerk gets what you need from inside for you. This is done this way for their safety, but think how easy it would be to break that door down and get inside if you were determined. Why not go that extra mile to ensure the safety of your employee and get some mag locks (magnetic locks) put on that door with a “push to exit” button on the inside and an access card reader on the outside. This way nobody is getting through that door unless they have access or they cut the power. This is where the whole thing about gas station robberies not being a well thought out process plays a roll. No person robbing a gas station is going to cut the power, they most likely have not thought it through that far. Now you may say, well what if they destroy the card reader? The card reader is not what is holding those doors closed, the mag locks on the inside are doing that job. Now our mag locks here at securitycameraking.com can withstand anywhere from 600 to 1500 pounds of pressure (depending in which mag lock you purchase).
Back to cameras. A TP-LP700W would be ideal for a gas station, mounted somewhere looking towards the parking areas. The TP-LP700 is our version of a license plate camera. When people hear license plate camera the first thing that pops into their head is the red light cameras, well this camera works a little different. This camera does not take quick snapshots, it records to the DVR like any other analog camera. This camera is known for its clear view and good-quality shots on the license plates. After that, any camera would suffice for surveilling your gas station, depending on how clear you want your recordings to be. For high definition recording you could go with an IP system, more expensive but well worth the money in video quality. Also, for the budget conscience, you can get megapixel quality with an HDCVI System. HDCVI is a relatively new product that allows megapixel quality video over coaxial cable. This would be the ideal system for a gas station owner trying to prevent robbery.
At the end of the day no matter what system you decide to go with, a security system is a no-brainer in your station. Even if you just posted signs stating CCTV is in use at this location, or installed a few dummy cameras, which is never the best idea, the culprit of the yet to be committed crime may be deterred. Now, since the topic of dummy cameras is out there, let me explain why that is not the best idea. Yes, there is a good chance if they see them they will be deterred. However, there is a great chance it may not work due to they don’t see them or just plain old don’t care. When it fails to deter someone and they continue to rob your store and possibly harm your employees and customers, you have absolutely zero footage to give the authorities an upper hand. So to ensure this doesn’t happen I would persuade you away from the dummy camera idea, don’t do this halfway its not worth the risk. Don’t learn that the hard way!
All this being said, don’t waste another second, go to SecurityCamerKing.com or give us a call at 866.573.8878. We have an expert sales team waiting for your call to assist you with any questions/concerns you may have about purchasing a system. Also, don’t forget once you have purchased the system if there are any problems or simple misunderstandings with the system you can call our technical support team free of charge. The last thing you want is for an employee to be put into harms way along with your store being robbed and have absolutely no preventative measures in place. There is no way you can go wrong with a simple mag lock, card reader, and push to exit button set up to ensure your employees safety after normal business hours. Now add a couple of security cameras to the equation and throw in a DVR or NVR and you are all set. As I said before you will never be able to 100% effectively prevent crime, but with a system from us here at SecurityCameraKing.com you will be well on your way to managing the outcome.
