The Challenge

‍
Georgia hospital with 24-hour Emergency Room experiencing a spike in workplace violence and property crimes‍
‍

According to The Council on Criminal Justice, robberies (+5.5%), nonresidential burglaries (+11%), larcenies (+8%), and motor vehicle thefts (+21%) all increased from 2021 to 2022. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of the Department of Health & Human Services, increased the expectations and requirements for safe working environments for healthcare workers. They stated, “CMS will continue to enforce the regulatory expectations that patient and staff have an environment that prioritizes their safety to ensure effective delivery of healthcare.”

A hospital in Georgia with over 2,000 employees was feeling the effects of rising crime rates. They were facing an increase in workplace violence, increased property crimes, and ultimately putting the safety and wellbeing of patients, employees and visitors at risk. Additionally, already overworked staff became fearful of being assaulted at work, leading many nurses to leave the profession, straining the workforce even further. This led the hospital’s Manager of Public Safety to search for an effective solution to lower crime rates and improve overall safety.

The Solution

‍
Create a virtual security perimeter with Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras to alert security personnel of known threats entering the hospital campus‍

‍
In an effort to proactively prevent and solve crime at the hospital, the Manager of Public Safety deployed six Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras around the perimeter of its campus to obtain real-time information about potential threats and help prevent unauthorized access.

The Results

A drop in overall crime on the hospital’s campus and a 55% decrease in theft over 6 months

‍
Real-time alerts from Flock Safety’s Falcon® LPR cameras enabled hospital security personnel to proactively monitor known threats such as violent patients, disgruntled employees, or banned visitors. This ultimately empowered them to take appropriate measures to intercept and deter potential violence before it took place without endangering patients or staff.

Because most people arrive at healthcare facilities in vehicles, the Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras made license plate evidence easily accessible and quickly searchable – this saved their security personnel time and ensured an immediate, real-time response to threats. With the cameras installed, this hospital security personnel was able to intercept threats quickly and deter crime overall.

Within the same six-month time frame in 2022 as the previous year, the hospital experienced reduced crime rates in almost all categories, including a dramatic 55% decrease in theft on the hospital campus.

Ultimately, the implementation of Flock Safety Falcon® LPR cameras as a perimeter security strategy led to decreased crime rates, creating a safer environment for patients, employees and visitors.