Residential Homeowners Association Increases Patrols and Customer Service Through Contract Security
Situation
The Lake Toxaway Community Association, situated on Lake Toxaway, a three-mile long, one-mile wide lake in the southern Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, is a homeowners association (HOA) responsible for managing the community of some 1,200 residential property lots. Not unlike HOAs at up-scale communities throughout the country, one of the board’s most important responsibilities is to maintain the safety and security of the residents and properties.
In its efforts to provide quality services to residents, the Lake Toxaway Community Association’s Board of Directors has contracted IPM, of Arden, NC, one of the region’s largest destination property management companies, to provide seamless community association management services.
The Lake Toxaway Community Association Board’s Safety and Security Committee, in conjunction with IPM, began researching the possible financial efficiencies available to the HOA by changing from a hybrid in-house security operation to a private security company. After a thorough evaluation, the Board selected AlliedBarton Security Services as their private security company. “AlliedBarton came in at a very competitive rate. They saved the HOA money without compromising the outstanding level of service that the residents had come to expect from their in-house security,” said Kit Garren, President of IPM. “AlliedBarton brings a high level of customer service, which was critically important to the Lake Toxaway Board.”
Challenge
In high-end residential communities like Lake Toxaway, residents have extremely high expectations, especially in the area of safety and security. “The delivery and execution of those services must equal those expectations,” Garren said.
The critical challenges for AlliedBarton were to execute a flawless, professional transition and establish a responsible, security presence with a high degree of customer service. AlliedBarton set out to recruit top-quality personnel, initiate their award-winning training and become a visible, customer-friendly force in the community.
Another important aspect of AlliedBarton’s presence at Lake Toxaway was their ability under North Carolina law to create a Company Police Department, staffed by a sworn, state-accredited, armed police officer who is an AlliedBarton employee. In addition, AlliedBarton expanded security coverage by providing around-the-clock shifts of an AlliedBarton security officer to work with the state-certified Company Police Officer.
Solution
AlliedBarton hired Keithen Locklear, who had been a Police Officer for the Cherokee Police Department on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, Cherokee, NC, to be Captain of the Company Police Department. Locklear is responsible for training, supervising and scheduling the AlliedBarton security officers who are assigned to Lake Toxaway.
“Keith is a perfect fit for the Lake Toxaway Community Association,” said Sean Halleran, AlliedBarton’s Business Development Manager in Charlotte, NC. “He’s soft spoken, friendly, customer service oriented, and has the ability to de-escalate a situation very quickly. He’s a good law enforcement officer and cares about the people he is serving.”
Locklear initiated training for the new security officers, which included AlliedBarton basic training, driver training, and site-specific training. Lake Toxaway now gets twice the bang for its security buck. Locklear enforces county and state laws, while the security officers enforce HOA rules and regulations. They interact constantly and exchange information. Under the previous arrangement, only state laws were enforced.
Locklear said patrols and customer services were a priority. “I expect every security officer not to exceed 25 miles per hour when driving on patrol,” Locklear said. “They must stop whenever they see a person walking and engage them in conversation.”
Result
Locklear has received very positive feedback from the community about AlliedBarton’s visibility and politeness. Response time to emergency calls has been reduced since AlliedBarton took over and the Company Police car and an AlliedBarton patrol car, are on patrol.
“An HOA doesn’t want to manage their own in-house security personnel. They’re a volunteer board, no one is getting paid to manage the process and it is not their primary area of expertise,” said Halleran. The benefits of AlliedBarton’s services are greatly appreciated by the HOA and the residents and include:
- Responsive security officers and managers.
- Increased communications with the HOA administration, residents, and law enforcement.
- Quality, award-winning AlliedBarton training for security personnel.
- Significantly greater visibility to deter potential criminal activities.
- More strategic and effective vehicular and nautical patrols.
- A concerted effort to make customer service a priority.
- Reduced costs.
- AlliedBarton’s residential community security expertise and sharing of best practices.
“AlliedBarton has made a very positive impression on the residents,” Garren said. “In addition, the Safety and Security Committee is well versed and advised on the entire security process at all times. The Board of Directors is very happy.”
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