Best Surveillance Systems for Gas Stations Leave a comment

Gas stations are locations with high foot traffic of people from all over. People come and go and stay for minimal amounts of time, which makes identifying visitors incredibly difficult. These locations often include a small indoor storefront and a large outdoor bay area for the gas pumps. This means you need to decide what your primary concerns are and where you need to install security cameras.

What are surveillance systems good for?

Accidents

Accidents happen in all work environments, but gas stations are especially susceptible. Gas sometimes gets on the ground and the location is packed with hazardous chemicals. They also have many visitors not paying the most attention and motor vehicle accidents sometimes occur.

Robbery

Gas stations are also often targets for robbery for those looking for some quick and easy cash. They have minimal employees on hand and few people in the store at a time so they are prime locations for theft. Surveillance cameras can play a key role in determining suspects and perpetrators.  

Employee Theft

These business tend have high employee turnover. This means some untrustworthy people may slip by, so having cameras to keep an eye on your cash register or other risk areas is important. Surveillance cameras not only act as a way to catch and prove when a theft does occur, they also act as a strong deterrent to prevent crime.

Features:

The first feature that is important for gas station surveillance systems is IR capabilities. This is especially important for outdoor cameras because a lot more crime happens at night. IR will allow your cameras to capture clear footage at nighttime and during low lighting conditions. Having wide dynamic range capabilities is also useful for balancing out lighting conditions to optimize footage quality. Your surveillance cameras are useless they can’t provide usable footage.

You will also want to consider selecting security cameras that are vandal proof to keep them safe and running in the event that somebody tries to mess with them. Criminals may target them for resale or destruction of evidence and it is important to protect your footage.

Depending on your location, wide angle lenses may be helpful to maximize each device’s field of view and fully cover large areas.

Remote Monitoring is useful for those wanting to keep up with their footage on-the-go from any location.

Weather resistance is another important feature, specifically for outdoor cameras, because it will protect your devices from inclement weather. You don’t want to waste time and money installing a surveillance system just to have it destroyed the first time it rains.

So what locations should you choose?

To start your gas station surveillance system, you will want to place a camera facing the cash register areas. This works to prevent employee theft and cover a hotspot that criminals target. You can also look for cameras with point of sales features to help track finances electronically. You should also place them near pumps to capture the license plates of visiting vehicles. This will help identify drivers in the event of an incident such as a collision. Cameras should also be places in high locations to provide an overview of the entire location.

What dangers could you face by installing cameras?

Privacy- Be sure to keep cameras in public locations only, not in break rooms or restrooms to respect employee privacy.

Accidents- Surveillance cameras can be damaged by car collisions and will then need to be replaced. They can be a costly investment but can help you immensely in the case of an event.

Theft- Criminals often target surveillance cameras either for resale or evidence destruction; this makes it important to select vandal proof cameras so they stand strong.

Other Considerations:

You will also want to consider the number of cameras you need to install. This will depend on the size of the location and what important areas to want to cover. Your cameras should also be a high enough megapixel so that they are able to capture clear and usable footage. Further, you will want to consider PTZ camera options for increased control. These devices allow you to pan, tilt and zoom to focus on different areas.

Wrap Up:

If you are looking to upgrade or install a gas station surveillance security system, log on and give us a call today! We have a great team of highly experienced salesmen, installers and technicians that would love to help you out. We can walk you through the process start to finish and help you select the best cameras for you and survey your property to decide on the most optimal locations.