Upon visiting Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, I realized the best security tips that I can give to a hostel can be taken directly from prisons. Eastern State Penitentiary boast the worlds first penitentiary and its facility still served as an inspiration to some of the greatest prisons today. Here are the reasons why you should consider them too:
Big Brother is Your Friend
Eastern State is too old for this, but modern prisons have cameras everywhere. A video surveillance system (CCTV) is great, where it can record the common areas. Guests shouldn’t be too concerned, unless the cameras are in areas where privacy is assumed (dorms, private rooms, & bathrooms). Try to cover as much common area as possible, even hallways to see who is entering rooms when. If there is a major security issue, the CCTV can help your staff determine what exactly went down, who is to blame, and even offer evidence to the authorities if needed.
CCTV can help with authorities, especially with liability issues, however, it should always serve as a back up to an already solid security in place. A standard rule is that a CCTV system only helps “after the fact,” and proper staff surveillance helps prevent the fact. A good CCTV system is costly, and it is difficult to train staff how to use it. There should always be one member on duty that knows, because the faster the video can be reviewed, the better the chances of resolving the issue.
Hostel guests sacrifice privacy for a cheaper night’s sleep and/or a more social experience. They should not feel as if they are sacrificing security too.
Bottleneck Flow Control
Having as few entry and exit points, with the ability for staff to keep an eye on these points really helps the keep track of who is coming and going. So if the only entrance/exit is viewable by reception staff, the security factor is very high.
In most countries, you will need more than one point of egress to be up-to-code. You can achieve this by using alarms for other exits to be “Emergency Only,” with a fine or eviction of anyone going through that door or window that isn’t authorized.
Central Monitoring
Many prisons, like Eastern State Penitentiary, have a central monitoring area, where the guards can easily see much of what is going on from one great viewpoint. A properly positioned reception desk not only oversees the entry, but also access to the hallways, the kitchen, and the common areas. This is the main reason why open floor plans are hugely popular in hostels.
The reception desk does not need to be placed right in the center of the building, like these prisons. It can be anywhere. The center of a hostel refers more to where the most traffic takes place, where the guests frequent the most. Naturally the entrance is a hotspot, but also is the kitchen, common area, game-room, and/or courtyard. A great central reception desk is not fool-proof. Staff still must do routine rounds of checking on the facilities to ensure security.
Multi-Level Access
Allowing everyone to have access to everywhere is a problem waiting to happen. The prisons limit a person’s ability to certain areas, to prevent others from entering who do not belong. Think of this as an added layer of protection. If you break your dorm rooms down to zones, and put in extra doors, you can do just that, and decrease the chances of a security flaw.
Many buildings naturally do just this. Each building, floor, wing etc. can serve as a zone. A person staying in the 3rd floor cannot access the hallways leading to the dorms on the other floors. A proper key card system can do all this, but there are work-arounds if they aren’t an option. This really only applies to large hostels.
Lockdown Ability
Prisons have a super fast lockdown ability, to prevent bad situations from getting worse. Hostels have a different reason, and that is to limit access to certain areas at certain times. This can control guest behavior and limit unwanted clutter, damage, and noise from these areas.
For example, locking the kitchen from say 12 – 5 am can limit the possibility of a huge mess, guests accidentally eating the wrong food, or my personal favorite, a kitchen fire at night by a drunk chef. Locking the courtyard at 10pm can limit the noise complaints from neighbors. A good guest will understand the reason behind the rules, and it always helps when you have a 24 hour reception who is willing to make an exception.
Visitation Policies
Prisons have a huge procedure when it comes to visitors. They can only visit at certain times and be in certain places. This is something that shouldn’t be easily overlooked. Security is most vulnerable at night, when the staff to guest ratio is lower and guests are sleeping. So, it would be wise to only allow hostel guests in the building after a certain time.
Some hostels even make it a policy to check the names off of a list as guest enter throughout the night. Many hostels make guests sign in, verifying their identity in the process. Other hostels only allow guests to be in the common areas, and even others extend this policy to guests of those staying in private rooms. It is more difficult to limit who can be a visitor, than when and where they the go. So take these policies as the easier way to screening and validating visitors, each and every time.
Some guests would rant about a security policy/procedure for it being too controlling or inconvenient, but most guests will understand the reason for it, and be happy that they fell safe because of it. In can help that for any behavior you are limiting, offer an alternative such as late night bars that are open for them to drink, or places to go with guests past visiting hours. Many of these policies and procedures were put into place after something bad happened, so use the prisons as an example.
Prisons cannot offer an answer to everything. Most prison-mates do not have their own lockers, nor are able to cook their own meals, however it is up to you to make sure your hostel is secure. Hostel guests sacrifice privacy for a cheaper night’s sleep and/or a more social experience. They should not feel as if they are sacrificing security too.
