The Calgary news in the past couple of months has been very focused on automotive crime, from theft from autos, to grand theft auto - there is a serious concern in Alberta.

Automotive crime is a nightmare for dealerships. Stolen vehicles or parts not only hit your books but they can be a huge inconvenience to your customers if the vehicle was theirs or pre-ordered.

In response to the increase in automotive crime in Alberta, how can automotive dealerships combat this rise in crime in the area? We’d like to share some recommendations on how to improve your dealership’s security.

Similar in nature to our fenced compound solutions, as an automotive dealer you need to protect your assets, compound and buildings. Not only are dealerships vulnerable to break-ins for keys but also auto part theft, where the cars are stripped down and the parts sold. Stockrooms can be robbed of anything from navigation systems, to rims, to catalytic converters.

Improve your Parking

Often dealerships fail to consider how important vehicle display and parking is. For example, if you have any vehicles that are raised, make sure they are in a well lit area so criminals can’t slide under them and remove parts.

If you have a high value car on your lot, be strategic with your lower value cars by surrounding the high value asset with them, to make it more difficult to steal. Park your cars with the wheels turned sharply to the side with the emergency brake on, making it substantially more difficult to remove the tires or tow the vehicles.

Go Keyless

This isn’t referring to your cars having keyless entry, but implementing a managed access security system for locked compounds and buildings.

This keyless entry, or managed access allows you to manage and control who can access where and when, reducing any chance of internal theft. In addition, this ensures that your expensive tools, specialty parts and car keys are all secured.

Managed access control systems are very easy to operate. For example if an employee lost their card or it was stolen, it can be deactivated effortlessly, similarly if you want to set up a new one, this is equally simple.

Upgrade your Systems

Conventional alarm systems do not work. With a 98% false alarm rate, they have slow or no police response and normally only cover around 20-25% of the area of your dealership. To truly secure your dealership and improve your automotive security you need a verified surveillance system.

Our Sonitrol Dealership Security Solution boasts a rapid police response time, meaning they catch your criminals in the act and with over 175,000 criminals caught using our systems, we are a trusted security provider with strong ties to the police.

The unique Sonitrol Solution, SonaVision verified video monitors the outside and inside of your dealership 24/7/365 and is activated by highly sensitive motion, heat and audio controls to detect criminals. This system is dramatically better than conventional CCTV solutions.

Currently, there are hundreds of dealerships across North America that use Sonitrol Security Solutions to protect their company and assets. If you’re a single dealership or a national chain, our scalable designs make it simple to protect your dealership and meet any business growth needs.

To find out more about how Sonitrol can protect your Dealership, contact us today and we’ll go into detail on how our system works and what would be the best solutions for your location’s unique needs.