Scannergate
July 23, 2010
Choosing the wrong guard tour system can have serious consequences
Yesterday's L.A. Times carried a report on "Scannergate",
where Los Angeles sheriff's deputies at the Men's Central Jail created duplicate bar codes to circumvent the jail's guard
tour system and avoid doing their patrols. Copies of the bar codes were made with commonly available commercial bar code
software, according to the report.
"The scanner scam was uncovered after an inmate committed suicide in his cell in March 2009. The follow-up investigation
of the suicide revealed that the inmate had been dead for hours before his body was found. But records showed that a deputy
went by his cell during the time the inmate was dead. Investigators grew suspicious when they discovered that computer records
showed the deputy scanned several parts of the jail in 35 seconds — a physical impossibility."
The deputies were clearly at fault, and the article stated that those involved were dismissed or disciplined.
But what about
management at the facility, who selected a system that could be so easily circumvented? And supervisors, who failed to notice
problems in the guard tour system reports, over what was probably long period of time?
This situation could easily have been prevented. Guard tour systems from our company (and others) use checkpoints that cannot be copied. Our Rounds Tracker reports
make viewing guard tour data so quick and simple that there is no reason — or excuse — for not reviewing officers' tours.
There is lots of good advice available for security managers. Here are two articles on this web site: