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7 Ways to Limit Legal Liabilities with Video Surveillance

Many companies use video surveillance systems to deter or catch theft and other criminal activity. What many businesses fail to realize is that this is not the only benefit of video surveillance. In fact, in many cases it may not even be the primary benefit of video surveillance. In today’s business environment there are many potential liabilities that business owners and executives must be aware of on a day-today basis. This includes liabilities associated not only with criminal acts but also liabilities related to employee injuries, customer injuries, employee and customer complaints, and damage to property.

Video surveillance can be used to limit liabilities in the following seven ways:

1. Workers Compensation Claims - Employee injuries can have a direct impact onworker compensation premiums. Injuries result in increased premiums which directly impact a business’ profit. VSS can be used to verify workers compensation claims and eliminate fraudulent claims. It can also help to lower employee injuries overall by providing a method review employee conduct and enforce safety policies.

2. Third Party Injuries - Much like employee injuries, injuries to customers or other individuals at a business can result in a direct liability to the business. The end result can be insurance claims or lawsuits. VSS can be used to verify injury claims by third parties and eliminate false claims. It can also be used to verify exactly what happened and to what extent the person(s) was injured.

3. Property Damage - VSS can be used to review and verify any property damage claims. In cases where there is actual property damage, video surveillance can be further used to verify the extent of the damage at the time the incident occurred. Claims for property damage incurred at a business location can result in lawsuits, payouts or increased insurance premiums.

4. EEOC Claims - EEOC claims can have a major impact on business operations.  EEOC claims often result in payouts or lawsuits that can cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Video surveillance can be used to help verify or contradictactivity that is reported in EEOC-type claims such as discrimination and sexual harassment.  EEOC claims often result in payouts or lawsuits that can cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Video surveillance can be used to help verify or contradict activity that is reported in EEOC-type claims such as discrimination and sexual harassment claims. In cases where there is actual property damage, video surveillance can befurther used to verify the extent of the damage at the time the incident occurred.  Claims for property damage incurred at a business location can result in lawsuits,payouts or increased insurance premiums.

5. Customer Service Complaints - VSS can be used to verify or contradict the activity claimed in customer complaints. Audio may be used in conjunction with video surveillance so that the interaction between customers and employees can be reviewed. This information can then help to determine a proper course of action to ensure customer satisfaction.

6. Employee Complaints - VSS can be used to verify or contradict employee complaints. This includes complaints about safety, working conditions, supervisors, customers, vendors, etc. The information gathered can then be used to resolve the situation and ensure that there are no further problems or complaints.

7. Safety and Policy Enforcement - VSS can be used to monitor and/or review employee activity in order to enforce safety policies and other company policies involving employee activity. This will help to ensure a productive and safe work environment that is free of potential liabilities for the company.

VSS provides a factual account of activities for many different types of situations, not just forcriminal activities. VSS eliminates the need to only rely on statements from the parties involved or witnesses. VSS should be a part of any organization’s overall risk management plan.

Loss Prevention

Did you know that Brownstone Security offers numerous training courses in all types of security? One of the training courses offered is on loss prevention, and with today’s poor economy, retail theft has increased a substantial amount in all industries causing the need for more loss prevention agents in the security industry. 

Loss prevention is a profession that is responsible for reducing inventory losses in retail, industrial, manufacturing and distribution industries. Loss prevention professionals manage security programs that focus on reducing inventory losses due to employee theft, shoplifting, fraud, vendor theft, and accounting errors. Like others in the security industry, loss prevention professionals must interact with store personnel and store customers when dishonesty or carelessness occurs. Accusing someone of dishonesty or carelessness is not a small matter and must be done with care and professionalism. 

There are many job duties in loss prevention and they must be handled at the highest professional level. One of these duties is conducting baggage checks which ensures that employees and/or vendors aren’t transporting stolen merchandise from a facility. A loss prevention agent must make sound, wise decisions when conducting these searches. If someone is falsely accused of theft, that person can file a lawsuit against the loss prevention agent and/or the loss prevention agent’s employer. Loss prevention agents must be detailed-oriented in their investigations and reports to prevent such incidents from occurring.

If you are interested in joining the Brownstone Loss Prevention Team, contact your scheduler or Brownstone management team for more information on the Loss Prevention training program.

Brownstone Security is proud to introduce its new license plate capturing day and night camera BTS-MIR83122HQDN

The License Plate Capture Camera has 8 manual shutter speed control and according to your needs, the shutter can be adjusted to auto or manual electronic shutters. The speed range of the camera is from 1/50 sec to 1/100,000 sec, so this can achieve reliable license plate recognition. Adopting with SONY HQ1 DSP and Exview HAD CCD the resolution hits 540 TV lines, with 0.05 LUX. It also has a built-in Mechanical IR Cut Filter; the cameras can automatically switch from Color to B/W mode, when the illumination is under 2 Lux. This security camera can be easily added to existing surveillance systems and can be integrated with Brownstone’s MSGV Series license plate recognition system.

The License Plate Capture Camera has 8 manual shutter speed control and according to your needs, the shutter can be adjusted to auto or manual electronic shutters. The speed range of the camera is from 1/50 sec to 1/100,000 sec, so this can achieve reliable license plate recognition. Adopting with SONY HQ1 DSP and Exview HAD CCD the resolution hits 540 TV lines, with 0.05 LUX. It also has a built-in Mechanical IR Cut Filter; the cameras can automatically switch from Color to B/W mode, when the illumination is under 2 Lux. This security camera can be easily added to existing surveillance systems and can be integrated with Brownstone’s MSGV Series license plate recognition system.

Brownstone provides a variety of cameras and DVRs and serves the retail, hospitality, manufacturing, commercial,healthcare, and government industries. If you would like more information or a demo, please call 800-241-6808.


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