Make certain that the institution’s security program exempts no one. Do not
permit an employee to become a ‘trusted’ staff member without oversight. Every employee of the company
should be subject to checks and verifications.
Establish a relationship with local police authorities. Familiarize them with the basics of your museum’s security measures and ask them to perform a free “crime risk” inspection.
Insure that the security program includes scenarios for likely security breaches and how personnel are to react. Explicitly detail the staff’s responsibilities and expected conduct. Most importantly, practice these scenarios on an repeated, ongoing basis.
All museums, from small rural facilities to large metropolitan institutions can implement nearly all of the measures outlined in this document and minimize their risk of theft and burglary. Adopting Object ID protocols, creating solid inventory controls systems and securing the services of a nationally based, professional security consulting company like FocusMicro are within the means of nearly all organizations.
Implementing the basics of technology solutions such as access and intrusion
detection systems and digital video surveillance systems can be done with only a modest investment,
installing scalable solutions that can be expanded upon when additional resources become available.
Selecting a security contractor is an extremely crucial element of the security evaluation process.
The importance utilizing a nationally based security company such as FocusMicro that can not only
provide knowledgeable consulting services for state-of-the-art security strategies and technologies,
but can also deliver turnkey security solutions as well, cannot be overstated.
The most effective theft and burglary prevention mechanism is awareness. Understanding the means and methods used by criminals and taking steps with a security contractor to bolster an institution’s defenses and operating protocols will remove or mitigate those criminal pathways, enabling museums to protect, while sharing, our culture’s art and antiquities.
