Security mantraps come in many forms and with many names, including vestibules, airlocks, security cabins and more. But what do they really entail? 

We’ve all used different types of entrances as we move about in the world:  swing doors, sliding doors, revolving doors, gates and turnstiles. Aside from providing access into buildings, how many people consider that certain types of entrances can reduce costs and sometimes create opportunities to make money? 

In Part I of this two-part article, “Defining Basic Tailgating Prevention Capabilities and Goals,” we organized different types of pedestrian security entrances into four distinct Capability Levels for combatting tailgating: Crowd Control, Deterrent, Detection and Prevention. We showed that each level has a different impact on an organization in terms of capital cost and whether security staff are recommended based on the entrance location and the need to respond to jumping over, crawling under, or other tailgating infractions. 

After yet more school shootings began making the news, the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois decided to completely overhaul its virtually nonexistent lobby security a year and a half ago. “(The shootings) made us realize we needed to put something in place to secure us a little bit more. We may be looked at as a target because we are in an old high school building, and our property is combined with the (new) high school next door to us,” says Patrick Ketchum, Director of the Office for Insurance and Benefits at the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.