Brazen Break-in At My Office

[Smilingreen]

Is that a group ambush where you get attacked by 4 males?

I guess, if you are into that kind of thing...lol

 

[TheWaterbug]

What is a 'panic bar'? I do not understand. Was the door locked? It looked like it was not and he just yanked it open.

The Panic Bar is the electronically-controlled bar that remains in place after the intruder yanked the door open. It's not supposed to work that way; it's supposed to keep the door closed unless unlocked from the outside with a code, from the inside with an RF remote, or from the inside by pushing the bar outward (e.g. in a panic).

The panic bar was attached to the door frame via 4 self-tapping screws that just screwed into the sheet metal of the door. When the guy yanked, the sheet metal failed, and the screws just pulled out.

It has now been re-attached with bolts that go all the way through both sheets on the metal door, with security nuts on the outside. You'd have to hack on it for awhile to defeat it, now.

There's also a deadbolt, but typical OP was for the first person to arrive in the morning to unlock the deadbolt and rely on the panic bar during normal business hours. We've amended our SOP so that we don't unlock the deadbolt until there are more people in the building.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Also a good idea to have a hold up code for the alarm system. If used it appears to disarm the system but actually sends a silent panic.

Yesterday I distributed a set of "panic buttons" to employees. They're just car remote fobs tied to the alarm system, and a long-press of the alarm button will immediately set off the sirens throughout the building.

 

[Starglow]

The Panic Bar is the electronically-controlled bar that remains in place after the intruder yanked the door open. It's not supposed to work that way; it's supposed to keep the door closed unless unlocked from the outside with a code, from the inside with an RF remote, or from the inside by pushing the bar outward (e.g. in a panic).

The panic bar was attached to the door frame via 4 self-tapping screws that just screwed into the sheet metal of the door. When the guy yanked, the sheet metal failed, and the screws just pulled out.

It has now been re-attached with bolts that go all the way through both sheets on the metal door, with security nuts on the outside. You'd have to hack on it for awhile to defeat it, now.

There's also a deadbolt, but typical OP was for the first person to arrive in the morning to unlock the deadbolt and rely on the panic bar during normal business hours. We've amended our SOP so that we don't unlock the deadbolt until there are more people in the building.

At my last company there were only three of us in the office so we always kept the deadbolt on the front door locked until our clients arrived to keep strangers and random sales people from just walking in. The back door was always locked but one time our after hours cleaning crew forgot to lock the back door and sure enough some strange guy just came walking in like he owned the place until we showed him the door. I was startled a bit to suddenly see this random guy standing there because it was so unexpected.

 

[looney2ns]

The Panic Bar is the electronically-controlled bar that remains in place after the intruder yanked the door open. It's not supposed to work that way; it's supposed to keep the door closed unless unlocked from the outside with a code, from the inside with an RF remote, or from the inside by pushing the bar outward (e.g. in a panic).

The panic bar was attached to the door frame via 4 self-tapping screws that just screwed into the sheet metal of the door. When the guy yanked, the sheet metal failed, and the screws just pulled out.

It has now been re-attached with bolts that go all the way through both sheets on the metal door, with security nuts on the outside. You'd have to hack on it for awhile to defeat it, now.

There's also a deadbolt, but typical OP was for the first person to arrive in the morning to unlock the deadbolt and rely on the panic bar during normal business hours. We've amended our SOP so that we don't unlock the deadbolt until there are more people in the building.

Or just break the glass.