A story came across my desk recently about a theft in a hotel in Xiamen, China. I have reproduced it below as printed in the local media, but it does give us pause to review the practice of key override systems on in room safes.

At Safemark, we sell a MedecoTM High Security key override as an option on all our hotel safes. The advantage of course is that should the electronics (or anything else) on the safe fail and the Electronic Handheld Override (EHO) will not gain access to the safe, the mechanical override bypasses the electronics package and physically pulls the locking bars back, opening the safe so the guest can retrieve their valuables in a timely and professional way.

Medeco High Security Override Key

Concerned security officers always ask how secure the system really is.  Unlike a skeleton key, which was used in the Xiamen theft, the patented Medeco key utilized by Safemark cannot be unknowingly copied as blanks are not distributed outside the Medeco factory. The lock is virtually pick proof, cannot be bumped and additional keys are only available from Medeco with proper authority. Locks are specifically ordered for each job ensuring security integrity for your property.

The onus is then on the property to keep the key safe. I have found most properties have a standard operating procedure along the following lines:

  1. The master keys are secured inside a locked safe deposit box
  2. The safety deposit boxes are usually under a camera (this can provide an additional layer of security – with a recording of each opening)
  3. The MOD “Manager on Duty” is the only person on site with access to the safe deposit box
  4. Every effort should be exhausted with the security and engineering teams to open the safe normally with the EHO
  5. If access with the EHO is unsuccessful – then the MOD should sign the override key out to security/engineering
  6. The safe should be opened and the key promptly returned to the MOD to secure in the safe deposit box.

You must remember that on the Safemark product the EHO is used under normal circumstances to open a locked safe (the use of which by an authorized staff member will put that person’s name on the audit report) and that the Medeco is resorted to “when all else fails.” This is unlike many guest room safes available on the market today which utilize only a master code and/or master key override system. The danger of this is plain to see in the incident in Xiamen.

 

Thief sisters who steal cash from hotel safes nailed by Xiamen police

While most hotel employees are honest, every occupation has a certain amount of employees who go bad and steal.    Two thief sisters, who were employees of a hotel in Huli District, were recently arrested by Xiamen police for stealing cash and valuables from safes in the hotel’s guest rooms, and many of their victims were foreigners, reported the Chinese-language Haixi Morning News.   Fang, who had worked as a maid at the hotel since March this year, secretly smuggled out the keys of the safes and made copies of them. She subsequently committed several thefts

Reproduced from “What’s on Xiamen” http://www.whatsonxiamen.com/tag-steal+cash+from+hotel+safes.html