Electronic ID cards, surveillance cameras, and metal detectors are fixtures in high-rise office buildings. Experts say with thousands whizzing through the revolving doors each day, it’s impossible to guarantee workers’ safety, reports the Associated Press. Despite security gadgets, a lone gunman with a grudge against an attorney marched into Chicago’s Citigroup Center last week and forced a security guard to take him to the 38th floor, bypassing turnstiles that require photo-ID cards. He killed three men and shot a woman in the foot before he was shot by SWAT snipers. “What can you do when someone is holding a gun on someone?” asked a spokesman for the Citigroup Center.
Security isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition, and must include specific security threats, state and city requirements, and cost, said Santo Scribani of American Commercial Security Services. High-tech options like palm print or retinal scans and facial recognition programs are not widely used because they’re not cost-effective and the public’s not comfortable using them, Scribani said. High-profile targets, including the Empire State Building in New York and Chicago’s Sears Tower have metal detectors or walk-through X-ray scanners in their lobbies.
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