Bullet Proof Security Systems, News, Information | Demand TSS

A former bank branch location turned car wash might be hard to recognize if it weren’t for a few trace reminders, like the “product storeroom and its massive foot-thick steel door. Or maybe the former bank’s
bullet-proof glass window, now converted into a coffee table.” As the financial industry continues to struggle, many banks have closed branches providing prime locations for other companies who can see their potential.

Read “Businesses Branch Out From Banks” by Casey Wooten, http://houston.bizjournals.com.

Recently, Total Security Solutions renamed its “Resources and Planning Tools” section to “Architect Resources” and added downloadable CAD drawings, as well as PDFs, of each of its bulletproof products. Each CAD drawing provides typical details, including plans, elevations, and sections for products, such as our Arch Window System, Ballistic Counters, and Interior Transaction Window. You can also easily access data sheets, which provide product-related details such as features, available sizes, and finish options, for many of our bullet-resistant products.

Additional resources available for architects, contractors, and other industries include installation videos of a Secure Sound System and Vertical Slider, as well as product demonstration videos of our Natural Voice Transmission Window and Package Passer.

After the planning and production processes are complete, we are ready to install your bullet-resistant barrier. Our accuracy in the initial phases makes for an efficient, mess-free installation.

Your bulletproof products will be carefully packaged and shipped to your facility by truck.  Total Security Solutions can begin working shortly after your business closes for the evening or on Saturday so as to minimize the inconvenience to you and your customers. For many installations, we can be in and out within a single night. And we’ll have your facility cleaned up and ready for normal business hours.

Recently, Total Security Solutions launched a channel on YouTube.com to enable customers to watch the bullet resistant barrier installation process firsthand. Currently, we have featured installation videos for our Secure Sound Bulletproof Barrier System and our Vertical Slider.

Read more about our installation process or contact us at info@demandtss.com or 1-800-513-1468.

Last week, an Illinois inmate attempted to escape from custody at a local courthouse. After being trapped in a skyway, the inmate tried to jump through the bullet-resistant glass smacking his head and enabling police officers to secure him in handcuffs.

Read “Inmate who tried to escape pleads guilty” on abclocal.go.com.

Total Security Solutions offers three styles of package passers: SPE Bullet Resisting Package Passer, Rotary Package Passer and the PE Package Passer. The Rotary Package Passer features an inner revolving unit that opens to only one side at a time enabling customers to pass packages to employees without a breach of security. The SPE Bullet Resisting Package Passer is a rectangular steel box with a door on both sides, the customer side and the employee side. The interlocking mechanism allows only one door to be open at a time.

The PE Package Passer also uses an interlocking mechanism whereby only one door may be opened at a time, either on the employee or customer side. Designed for moderate to frequent use, the PE Package Passer is built from transparent bullet resistant material and requires little or no maintenance.

View a product demonstration of the PE Package Passer.

In the Handbook of Glass in Construction by Joseph S. Amstock, it states, “Large storefront glass windows at street levels are one of the best ways retailers [ . . . ] have to showcase their merchandise or services. But these areas are increasingly at risk, particularly from ’smash and grab’ vandalism.” It goes on to state that nearly 70 percent of reported burglaries involved forced entry through windows or doors.

The Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (MPCA) recently reported an increasing threat from “smash and grab” robberies for local convenience stores. The MPCA issued a list of security tips to help convenience stores prevent this type of robbery. To “help protect your employees and provide security for your property,” convenience stores should consider:

• installing “Bandit Barriers” to keep robbers from getting behind the register counter,
• good lighting (interior and exterior), and
• two clerks on duty at night.

Read additional tips on protecting your convenience store from “smash and grab robberies.”

Earlier this year, Total Security Solutions underwent a site redesign to enhance our site’s offerings and further demonstrate our commitment to highly responsive customer service. Our Resources and Planning Tools section enables architects, contractors and other industries to easily view and download product images, detailed spec information as well as CAD drawings. Total Security Solutions also has a partnership with ARCAT to provide easy access to even more CAD drawings, LEED data and a convenient to use spec wizard tool.

Using the SpecWizard by ARCAT, you can easily select the bullet-resistant products you are interested in, configure the products by specifying your desired options and output a detailed Word or Rich Text Format spec form.

For companies seeking to meet LEED requirements, ARCAT also provides users a quick overview of how our bullet-resistant products compare to similar products, as well as identifying any specific credits that our products satisfy.

If you have any additional questions on using the SpecWizard, please contact Total Security Solutions at 800-513-1468 or info@demandtss.com.

While the industry term for our line of products is bullet-resistant, the more common term is bulletproof. Things like bulletproof vests, however, are not actually bulletproof, but bullet-resistant.

So what does it take to be truly bulletproof? In researching this topic, we found several people asking just that question. Six inches of lead sheathing or one foot of solid concrete could be called “bulletproof,” but the bullet-resistant products available through Total Security Solutions provide excellent stopping power against most common handguns, shotguns or rifles and can be employed in ways that are almost invisible to the undiscerning eye.

So now that we know the correct term is “bullet-resistant,” let’s analyze the phrase “bullet-resistant glass.”

Bullet-resistant glass isn’t really glass, well not completely. There are three types of “bullet-resistant glass,” but only one is actually made with regular glass. Glass-Clad Polycarbonate is made from a piece of polycarbonate that is sandwiched between two pieces of regular glass. The other forms of “bullet-resistant glass” are actually made from a solid sheet of acrylic or laminated polycarbonate.

Image taken from www.technical-discovery.com.

Recently released FBI crime statistics support the notion that in a struggling economy, the number of bank robberies increases. Chris Mackey, operations manager at Kriebel Security Inc. stated, “We’re [ . .  ] seeing increased interest in active security systems that can actually block or trap a robber, as opposed to passive ones, like cameras, that just record the activity.” One of the most popular security options available is known as the “mantrap,” a bullet-resistant glass enclosed vestibule in which customers must pass through a metal detector. If the metal detector is tripped, “a teller can hit a panic button that locks the inside door, preventing the robber from entering the bank. The teller or other official can also lock the street door, too, essentially trapping the robber in the vestibule until law enforcement authorities arrive.”

Read “In down times, bank robbers sticking up” by Martin C. Daks, www.njbiz.com.

While we sometimes flip flop between our use of the words “bulletproof” and “bullet-resistant,” the industry term is bullet resistant glass because it would be difficult to create a piece of glass the thickness needed to make it truly bulletproof while still maintaining visibility and communication.

There are two types of bullet resistant glass – solid acrylic and laminated polycarbonate. Solid acrylic is just as its name suggests – a solid sheet of acrylic either 1-1/4” or 1-3/8” thick depending on the level of protection required. Laminated polycarbonate is made by layering polycarbonate, a heavy-duty clear plastic, between two sheets of glass and laminating it all together. It can be ¾”, 1” or 1-1/4” thick depending on the level of protection. While a bullet will pierce the exterior glass layer of laminated polycarbonate, the inner layers absorb the bullet’s energy stopping it from penetrating through the entire piece of glass.

The newest form of bullet resistant glass is one-way bulletproof glass, commonly used in armored vehicles. One-way bulletproof glass is composed of two layers. The outside layer – on the threat side – is made of a brittle glass and the inside layer is a flexible polycarbonate. A bullet that strikes the brittle external layer first causes the glass to break inward toward the polycarbonate layer. The glass breaking absorbs some of the bullet’s energy by spreading the force over a larger area and the flexible polycarbonate stops the bullet.

Bullets shot from the inside of an armored car are able to penetrate the bullet resistant glass because they strike the polycarbonate layer first with more focused energy. The brittle glass layer then breaks outward allowing the bullet to pass through with minor energy loss.