One of the few legal reasons why residents can break a lease on their apartments is the threat of danger or overall safety reasons.

To promote resident safety onsite, Greystar Property Manager Brad Wiggins uses a roving patrol method at his Denver community, where car theft and vandalism have been an ongoing challenge.

Wiggins says that there is the potential for apartment communities with garages for people to follow residents in and vandalize vehicles, Wiggins says.“ Having security in place has definitely reduced the continuous efforts of garage break-ins and bike theft,” Wiggins says. “These crimes are inevitable in most apartment communities, but we have cut the activity by at least 60 percent.”

Wiggins recalls a string of storage facility break-ins that were caught on camera. In such situations, the process begins with an incident report summarized by the guards on duty, which the property management files. The two parties then work together, contact the police and can almost always guarantee a solution to catch the perpetrator in the process.

Wiggins monitors his community through the help of service provider Signal 88, reviewing a service summary complete with pictures and updates each night based on the presence of security guards both on foot and in cars at the property, multiple times throughout the day and at night. Wiggins notes that it is important that the guards are surveilling after regular business hours.