Choosing the Right Neighborhood

Home security is an oft discussed topic, and the benefits of alarm systems, motion sensors and surveillance cameras in and around our homes or businesses are well known.  But how do you ensure personal safety when you’re relying on the security precautions administered by somebody else?

American hotels check billions of visitors in each year, and it’s easy to assume your next vacation getaway will be a safe one.  After all, hotel rooms are generally equipped with keyless entry locks,  fancy high-end surveillance cameras monitoring every floor, and a highly visible on-site security staff that can usually be seen  patrolling lobbies and parking lots.  What you might be surprised to find, however, is that in spite of what can be viewed as rigorous security implementations by hotel companies, crimes are in fact not only frequently committed within hotel walls, but as of 2009 they are also very much on the rise.  A recent study conducted by Criminology and Hospitality professors from Ball State and Florida International Universities found  that a total of 756 crimes against guests were collectively reported by 64 Miami Beach hotels within just a two year time frame, and our faltering economy can be said to be at least partially responsible.  As Dave Wiggins, a member and former president of the California Tourism Safety & Security Association states, “the current (economic) downturn is associated with significant cuts in security, [while fewer hours for employees] may be pushing some otherwise honest people toward dishonest behaviors” (usatoday.com).

Despite the reasons, some hotel crimes have gone on to make headlines news.  In August 2005 the wife of a crew member from the ABC hit reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (a series that sends producers across  the country in search of families in need of a new home) who was staying at a Largo Hotel in Prince George’s County, Maryland with the rest of the series’ crew was beaten with a gun by an unidentified man demanding money from the front desk and fleeing before the police arrives.  The woman was subsequently rushed to the hospital where she received numerous stitches on her face (washingtonpost.com).  Ac tor/singer Jamie Foxx was himself nearly a victim of hotel crime when a man pretending to be a producer knocked at his Philadelphia hotel room door and tried forcing his way in when Foxx answered.  Foxx managed to prevent the suspect from entering, while police managed to catch and charge the subject with burglary, criminal threats, false imprisonment and other crimes (accesshollywood.com).

But this is not to say that you should be overly paranoid about becoming the next victim of hotel crime the next time you book a room; hotel security is by all accounts relatively safe, and the number of hotel crime victims a year are vastly and predictably fewer than those who have been victimized within their own homes.  Nevertheless, when you can’t rely on your own security systems and equipment, it can only help your personal safety to be aware of your surroundings and to take some extra precautions the next time you check yourself into a hotel.

Travel editor Peter Greenberg recently stopped by the CBS Early Show to share a few tips on staying safe during your next hotel visit.

“From the time you arrive to the time you leave, keep a close watch for anything out of the ordinary,” Greenberg says. “If you see an unattended car parked in front of a hotel lobby, report it immediately. Or if you see baggage sitting unattended in a hotel lobby, again tell a member of the hotel staff.”

The next step, he says, occurs during check-in, where you must always ask for a different room if the front desk clerk announces your room number out-loud while handing you the key.

“The reasons are obvious,” Greenberg says. “Criminals in hotel lobbies know right away what room you’re staying in if the room number is announced.”

He continues that you are at your most vulnerable after you check in and proceed to your room, as criminals can easily follow you and rob and assault you once you’ve inserted your card-key.  Therefore, if you find yourself feeling uncomfortable walking to your room alone, don’t be afraid to ask the hotel for an uninformed male employee to escort you.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of the peep-hole, and always call housekeeping yourself rather than use the “Please Clean the Room” sign, which basically lets everyone on your floor know that your room is empty (cbsnews.com).