AutoZone tests TV security system

Discount Store News, Nov 3, 1997 by Richard Halverson

MEMPHIS, TENN. -- AutoZone is

testing a new closed circuit TV

security system that promises

to replace the high cost of providing

in-store security guards

in 150 to 200 stores operating

in high crime areas.

The system features a two-way

video system, instead of

the conventional one-way, so

off-duty cops who monitor the

system in Houston can talk

down the bad guys who might

be causing trouble in a retail

store--and even project their

images, complete with uniform,

gun and badge, onto a 27-in. TV

monitor within the store.

Accordingly, any "perp" would

realize that a real cop--not a

rent-a-cop--is watching his

every move and listening to

every word he says.

In a technological breakthrough,

the system is close to

real time, so images and dialog

flow back and forth

almost instantly.

In a recent success

story, the system, operated

by InterStar, Houston,

broke up a midnight

gang fight in the parking

lot of a convenience

store in San

Antonio, Texas.

Within 45 seconds of

over the loud speaker,

members of three

gangs fled in their

cars, taking a fatally

wounded member

with them.

When San Antonio

police arrived 14

minutes later, all

that was left of the

gang fight was blood

on the pavement

from knife wounds.

At a Memphis store--not an

AutoZone unit--the system

foiled the rape of a store clerk.

In the first week that

AutoZone had been testing

the system, which it dubs

Remote Guard, it succeeded

in persuading two customers

who were violently arguing in

the store, to take their quarrel

outside once the cop on

the TV screen threatened to

call the police if they refused

to leave.

The system works this

way: managers carry silent

alarm buttons and other

alarm buttons are mounted

behind the parts counter. If a

robbery or some other disturbance

occurs, clerks push the

panic button.

An off-duty or retired police

officer responds by clicking

his PC to the affected store

and begins scanning the store

through closed caption TV

cameras mounted both inside

and out to discover what's

going on. Then he can talk to

store personnel to ask about

the problem.

If he sees that a robbery is

in progress, the officer stays

silent and invisible and notifies

the local police that a

crime is in progress, guaranteeing

the fastest response.

He continues monitoring the

scene through remotely controlled

cameras and can listen

to whatever is being said.

He thus becomes a witness to

the crime.

But if the robber begins

case of the attempted rape of

a Memphis store clerk, the

officer will use the loudspeaker

to talk down the perpetrator

and flash his uniformed

image onto the store TV monitor.

That was enough to

scare off the would-be rapist

before he hurt the clerk.

No small business can

afford to have full-time security

guards in their stores,

said Bill Cone, vp loss prevention

for AutoZone.

"We won't consider rolling

out the system unless the test

shows that it provides security

that is better than using a live

guard," Cone said. "AutoZone

won't sacrifice the safety of

either our customers or our

employees to save money."

AutoZone hires guards in

150 to 200 stores in high

crime areas on a rotating

basis, Cone said. Stores get

20 to 40 hours a week of

guard service, although they

typically operate 13 hours a

day, seven days a week.

If the Remote Guard proves

itself during a 90-day, onestore

test, AutoZone could

consider installing it in more

than 200 stores, Cone said.

As with any security system,

AutoZone is hoping for a

deterrence effect. Each store

using the system displays a

decal on the door advising

customers that a security

system is photographing

them and listening to their

conversation.

Costs of the service run

"pennies an hour," against

the $10 to $15 an hour wage

for an in-store guard.

InterStar is providing service

to hundreds of stores

since it set up shop in 1994.

The AutoZone installation

uses equipment that

Sensormatic, Boca Raton,

Fla., developed.

The typical convenience

store installation would

include four cameras and cost

about $10,000. For larger

stores of the AutoZone size, the

cost might run about $20,000,

including $15,000 for cameras

and $5,000 for communications

equipment.