museum security

7/25/2019 Museum Security

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MUSEUM SECURITY


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Museum collections should, like every

other valuable objects should beprotected from loss or accidental

destruction.

This means devising security

arrangements in terms of theft,

disfigurement and fire.

Those against theft fall into two

categories:

those in operation while the building is

open to the public

and those while it is closed.

Security Bulls eye


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1Small and wireless, vibration sensorsplaced behind a painting can detect the lightest

fingertap. Multiple sensors can be customizedone as a backup, another to detect if someone

tries to access the painting through the wall. ! tripped alarm signals the control room "or a cell

phone or pager#, describes the problem, and can provide a map of the site and an electronic

photo of the piece of art.

Security lan for !eeing art"or! safe


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#Many priceless works have inventory numberswritten on the canvas back and recorded ina registrar$s catalog. The catalogs keep data about a canvas$s thread count, highly magnified

photographs of a painting$s details and other proof of authenticity.


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$To hang a piece of art, eye hoo!son the back of the frame attach to %&% hooks on the museumwall. !t the bottom center of the painting, a metal boiler plate screws into both the frame and the

wall. 'ou$d have to work pretty hard to wrench the painting away.

(n places where earth)uakes can tor)ue paintings affi*ed in such a way, museums use

interlocking connections that offer some give.


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% &la'ingprotects some paintings and is commonly used with objets d$art shown on pedestals.+ut it is used judiciously since artists and scholars prefer as little interference as possible when

viewing the art. -or e*ample :nonglare glazing with staticfree polycarbons can be used, but

these can$t be used on some works "the ones with pastels, for instance# because it tends to

suck the chalk off the surface of the artwork./


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( Environmental sensorsfor fire, temperature changes and other hazards can be used tocomplement theftdeterrent sensors. These devices are even more common for items on

pedestals, but are used for paintings as well.


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)!round the edge of the room, a lo" railor change in floor te*ture or height creates aborder to keep people from getting too close to the artwork.

*urely sychological(t forces a person to enter a different space that, implicitly, they$re

not welcomed in.%


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+Motion,detection devicesbeamed directly over the painting sound a chirping alarm"like a smoke detector# to startle the tooclose observer and alert security.


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- Saturation motion detectionis the most important technology used in any given e*hibit space.

(nstead of focusing motion detection only on entrances and egresses, such as doors and air ducts,it$s most practical to simply flood the room with motion detection. That creates very few %dead

spots% for potential thieves to avoid sensors and helps deter %stay behinds%: skulkers who come

into the room with a group but remain when others leave.

(t is better to %overdesign%: when any given person is touched by at least two motion detectors at

one time.-or e*ample: Mi*ing infrared and microwave motion detectionsince infrared can cause

false alarms from heat, and microwave sometimes is triggered or disabled by the works of art

themselves, such as metallic sculptures./


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. Closed,circuit T/ camerasadd another security layer beyond motion detection.

(t is preferable to put in a digitally enhanced closedcircuit T0 system that triggers automatically.

1owever, if funds are limited, cameras should go first at entry points, then in the galleries.

The more precious the art, the more likely the better it is to go in for antiintegration.

!ntiintegration makes things difficult for thieves2 it means they will have to break two systems

instead of one.


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11(t is prudent to alarm "indo"sand fasten them closed whenever possible.

+reak sensors can be placed on the glass, especially lowerlevel windows. !s with 33T0,

glassbreak sensors are secondary to motion detection but still play a critical role, %not because it

tells us a window was broken but because it$s independent of the security system during

0gray hours: those afterclose periods when a large staff is hanging a new e*hibit. !t such

times, sectors of the building will have their security systems turned off.


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1# Security guardsshould be on alert during gray hours and also be a constant presence in the

museum at all other hours. They must patrol briskly and pay as much attention to fire e*its

as they do the art itself. They also communicate with the security control center,

which dispatches staff to suspicious situations.

!long with uniformed guards, a plainclothes supervisor would be appointed to see that the

security staff is managing the crisis properly.


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4 In storage rooms:5ne method works by having a fan blow air into or out of the area

to be protected at a predetermined pressure .! diaphragm elsewhere monitors the

difference between the inside and outside pressures. !s soon as an entry is made the

pressure alters, the diaphragm reacts and the alarm is setoff.

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