Security with evidence, not promises

Brochures look alike: “round-the-clock protection”, “experienced staff”, “immediate response”. None of it is true or false until it is tested — and a promise usually gets tested at the worst moment, on the day something happens.

• Promise: “Our guards patrol all night.”
• Evidence: the list of checkpoints scanned last night, with times and the guard’s name.
• Promise: “We respond immediately to every incident.”
• Evidence: the record of Tuesday’s incident — when it was spotted, who was told, what was done, when it was closed.

You judge a promise by how convincing it sounds. You judge evidence by whether it survives checking.

• Patrol record: which checkpoint, what time, which guard — see checkpoint patrols.
• Shift report: what happened, what was noticed, what was handed to the next shift.
• Incident record: what happened, where, who acted, who was told and how it was closed — see the incident report.
• Photos and notes taken on the spot, at the time of the incident.

Evidence is worth more when it is connected. At OVIT, the response reaches the client as one record, not three separate reports: the first signal, the guard’s check with a note and photo, and the closure. On the Guardly platform the client sees the same picture as the operations team, from the first signal to the final report.

• The rota: shows who was supposed to be there, not who was.
• A monthly summary with no records behind it: an overall completion percentage you can’t open up and check shift by shift.
• A sign-in sheet filled in at the end of the shift: records that someone signed, not when they did what.
• A report with no times or names: “site checked” doesn’t say who, when or where.
• Verbal reassurance: however sincere, it can’t be checked.

• Insurance claim: you can show the timeline — when the problem was spotted, who was told, what was done and when.
• Audit (internal, by management, or by your own client): you show that patrols and posts ran as agreed, shift by shift.
• Dispute with the security provider: the records show whether the agreed service was delivered — and protect both sides from a wrong accusation.

Video has a deadline. Under the Hellenic DPA’s Directive 1/2011 (art. 8), footage is deleted within 15 working days at most if no incident occurs; footage of an incident against the controller may be kept for 30 days, and of one involving a third party for 3 months. So the incident record should note that relevant footage exists, so it can be set aside in time. Details in the guide to CCTV footage retention.

Whether the evidence is enough in a particular case is for the insurer, the auditor or your legal adviser to judge. What you can judge, starting today, is whether it exists.

1. Open the night’s shift report: does it exist, and does it say anything specific?
2. Check that patrols ran at the checkpoints and times agreed.
3. For each incident, check that it has actions, an owner and a closure — or that it shows as open.
4. Once a week, pick a random time and ask: “what was happening at 02:00?”. The answer should be in the records, not in someone’s memory.

The spot check is revealing. When records come from the work itself, the answer is always there; when they are produced to be shown, the answer takes a while.

• It can’t show you a sample shift report and incident report before you sign.
• Reports arrive only when you ask for them.
• Reports carry no times, places or names.
• The answer to “how will I know?” is “trust us”.
• It can’t tell you who answers at night and what they can see at that moment.

Evidence is a selection criterion alongside legality, people and supervision — see how to choose a security company and questions to ask before signing. At OVIT, a real person answers the operations desk; if you want to see what evidence you would have for your own site, get in touch.