PSS388: TMA (Tutor-Marked Assignment) SUSS- Integrated Public Safety and Security Management, Singapore

Question 1

Gardner Holdings owns and operates a number of shopping malls in Singapore. It rents out the store spaces in the shopping malls to retailers and tenants. It provides services to them that it pays for by charging the retailers and tenants a services and conservancy charge.

One of the services it provides is security. It hires a security company that would provide security guards and security systems at its malls. The security guards would provide a visible deterrence to criminal activities, identify potential issues, contact the authorities if necessary and take any emergency action. To support them, the security systems at the malls typically include a Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring system that uses security cameras that can be viewed and recorded at a Fire or Security Control Center, digital access at points of entry, and security alarms.

Unfortunately, Gardner Holdings found that there has been a rise in the number of security incidents at one of its malls. There has been an increase in the number of shoplifting incidents there. There have also been a few incidents where unauthorised persons seemed to have entered through entrances with digital locks. There has even been a case of vandalism where graffiti was sprayed on the walls of the mall.

The security guards were unable to explain why they did not detect the incidents, identify the perpetrators, or take appropriate actions in response. The Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring system also seemed to be unable to capture images of the suspects properly.

Under pressure from the tenants of the mall, including its anchor tenant where most of the shoplifting took place, the leadership of the company is sufficiently concerned to call in external security specialists to review the situation.