Eye spy

That sleepy, paunchy warehouse guard in the grey uniform who populates many a thriller movie can expect a pink slip.

He's being replaced by a plethora of chips, cameras, computers, and sensors that never nap.

Warehouses in the Truckee Meadows and elsewhere have gotten so massive that security guards can no longer effectively patrol, says Ron Robinson, commercial sales manager at ADT Security Services Inc.

in Reno.

High-tech security installations have been growing exponentially in the last half dozen years because one can get so much more for so much less, says Dan Thomas, systems department manager at Electro Tech in Sparks.

Costs vary widely depending on what's wanted how much coverage, how much control, type of operation, and company budget.

On Web sites, security cameras are priced from under $100.

Computer systems for monitoring the camera displays are priced according to complexity.

How can a company decide if buying and installing a surveillance system is worth it in the long run? The payback can vary widely, too, says Thomas, on the amount of loss, opportunity for loss, and cost of the product lost.

But wireless technology continues to bring surveillance costs down, says Thomas, as broadcast antennas replace electronic cabling.

That's a benefit to companies that need to retrofit a building prior to move in.

And coming soon, he says, is biometrics scanners that register fingerprints to permit and track access.

Already on the scene is RFID, or radio frequency identification, says Dr.

Dale Rogers, director of the center for logistics management at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Initially invented for use by the U.S.

military, RFID took hold when Wal-Mart mandated that its top 100 suppliers use it at a pallet and case level by 2005.

"Target and Best Buy are following," says Rogers."By 2007 it will be there."

RFID uses a tiny transmitter chip that's mounted on forklift trucks to track movement and embedded in warehoused product.

"Unions don't like it," says Rogers.

He heard from a former logistics student now working in Georgia who reported sabotage of the system; each morning the antennas were found smashed.

When it comes to burglary and theft,the real danger is not from outsiders busting in through the front door, but from insiders shoveling stock out the back door, says Dan Tuecke, account manager at ADT Security Services.

Loss prevention managers say the average inside job amounts to about $20,000 when employee theft is involved, says Tim Kolakowski, owner of All Pro Security, Inc.

in Sparks.Meanwhile, the typical "smash and grab" by an outside burglar while alarms are ringing results in a minimal loss.

Still, says Kolakowski, 95 percent of his clients worry about outside security breaches, while only 5 percent are concerned about theft by insiders.

The exception, he says, are large retail stores.

Warehouse managers should be aware of what's going out the back door, those portals marked "Door must remain unlocked during business hours," says Tuecke.

"People don't like to even think that their employees would steal from them, but it happens," he says.

The merchandise might be stashed in the weeds out back, to be picked up later that night; or someone may be waiting outside in a car, ready to drive the goods away immediately.

Tuecke and Robinson agree: Surveillance cameras cut crime.

But how do employees feel about being on stage all the time with the cameras rolling? Sometimes they complain, Robinson allows.

"We tell them to talk to their manager," he says.

However, with cameras becoming increasingly common in public areas such as stores and banks, and even at traffic signals, people are becoming accustomed to being filmed, he says.

How do you know if you're on candid camera? U.S.

law requires both public places and private companies to post stickers that alert people to the fact that the building is monitored by video.

Constant camera surveillance can protect employees as well as employers.

For example, says Robinson, when workplace disputes occur be it verbal harassment or physical shoving a manager need not be caught in the middle of a "he-said, she-said" dispute.A playback of the occurrence will verify what happened.

At night, when workers must walk to their cars in a dark parking lot, a camera recording of any incident can be enhanced with a 50- fold increase in lighting, says Tuecke.And, a security guard who cannot physically leave his post can visually track employees via camera to see that they get safely to their cars.

Quality control is another warehouse function tracked by cameras.

The visual record shows if a broken package came off the truck handy proof in case of a damage dispute.

Ditto for verifying the unbroken condition of outgoing shipments.