Parkade alarm stops apartment sneak thieves

by Frank Fourchalk

This area is one the largest security concerns for apartment dwellers today. It has been the birth of more violations than any other area in the multi-housing family. It's knowingly the easiest way for a thief to gain entry.
I'm talking about the overhead garage door entry area. The area that spurs conversation on a daily basis between owners, especially when a resident drives in and out of the building oblivious to the world around them.
All the parkade stop signs in the world don't mean a thing to the person who doesn't have 6 seconds to wait for an overhead garage door to close. A person who is more interested in catching the 6 o'clock news than a burglar in the act.
Shame on this person who individually is the biggest security risk in the building. A selfish, non-caring person who values their time more than the safe keeping of the building's residents. So how do we deal with these non-honoring weak links who constantly jeopardize building security by ignoring these "stop and watch "areas.
These areas are extremely hard to screen, however there is an excellent product out there that will monitor your overhead garage door beautifully. It is an alarm system that protects illegal entry to the parkade via the overhead garage door. Allowing only one vehicle or person at a time to enter through the door does this.
If a second vehicle or person sneaks into the parkade before the door descends, it sets off an alarm in the building parkade. The alarm is loud enough to not only scare the perpetrator away but also alert the residents in the building of the intrusion.
This system works by transmitting a two stage infrared sensor (eye beam) from one side of the overhead garage door threshold to a receiver on the other side of the door. This beam is similar to the "photo eye" that prevents the overhead garage door from descending on vehicles.
Once the door has been activated the first stage of the sensor allows one vehicle or person through the door. Once through the door, the second stage of the sensor kicks into action monitoring the door for intruders until it fully descends.
There is an alarm control panel and a keypad, usually installed in a secured room in the parkade. If a false alarm or intrusion sets off the alarm, you can turn the system off by entering a selected code (similar to your home alarm). If nobody is around to turn off the alarm, don't worry because after a set time (to be determined by the strata) the system will turn itself off and reset the alarm automatically.
This system may also be set-up on a timer, whereas you may control what times you want the door to be monitored. For more information on this system, contact your local alarm professional.