Albatross centre rejigs its security

The Royal Albatross Centre is reviewing security after it took almost four hours for anyone to respond after intruders activated an alarm last month.

The security alarm was triggered twice on September 19, just after midnight and again at 3.50am when staff arrived for work and discovered the damage.

The intruders damaged mobility scooters and touch-screen computers with a hammer and stole cash, food and liquor, to the value of $1800.

Taiaroa Head manager of operations Hoani Langsbury said the intruders were ''in the building for several hours'' without anyone responding.

''We're reviewing our security requirements at the moment.

''We're pretty confident that it is significantly improved,'' Mr Langsbury said.

The reason no-one responded to the activation was because of a dated policy set by the previous management in which the security firm ''monitored'' the centre but did not ''escalate it'' if an alarm was triggered.

That meant a security guard was not sent to investigate the activation, police were not called and because the security company was unable to contact any centre staff, the intrusion went unnoticed.

A Portobello police officer was now part of the ''call system'', Mr Langsbury said.

Southern district police investigation support unit supervisor Richard Bourne said much damage was done at the centre and it was costly.

''We recommend that people review their alarm systems. [There was] a time when CCTV was a deterrent but now people don't give a [damn].

This is why it's really important to get people to review the systems. That's going to save them money in the long run.''

A security company spokesman said it was ''policy'' not to talk about clients.

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