Security is an essential part of any community association. It’s the board’s responsibility to ensure that every resident is safe and feels protected within their HOA. 

Fortunately, there are several ways to keep your community away from danger. One of them is by creating a safety and security committee. 

Keep on reading to learn its main functions, benefits, and how to implement it within your community. 

What is an HOA Safety and Security Committee? 

An HOA safety and security committee will act as an advisor for the Board of Directors to help them implement efficient security policies. Additionally, they will enforce and improve safety measures, as well as maintain and oversee security procedures. 

A safety and security committee will also spread awareness and educate the community on how to stay safe and what measures to take to increase their personal security. 

They will evaluate security issues within buildings, common areas, and properties. They will also review incident reports from their contracted security companies, recommend safety procedures to the board of directors, and create emergency names for certain situations. The committee will keep the residents informed about new safety policies, keep track of vehicle traffic and report any issues or concerns to the board of directors.

What is the role of an HOA safety and security committee?

An HOA safety and security committee has a wide range of responsibilities, including: 

• Keeping track of local laws and communicating those with the board and residents.
• Assessing your HOA and identifying any weaknesses that might pose a risk to residents’ security. 
• Monitoring safety policies to make sure they are doing their job correctly and checking if residents feel safe within their community.
• Ensuring that security systems are well maintained and scheduling their maintenance.
• Educating residents 

What are the benefits of an HOA Safety and Security Committee? 

An HOA safety and security committee will help improve the security and sense of safety within your HOA. This is important because higher crime rates translate into lower property values and pose a problem for possible homeowners as they might be discouraged around buying a home in your HOA. 

Even if your community association already has many security and safety measures in place, it’s important to ensure they are being effectively implemented. Since the HOA safety and security committee is constantly monitoring these measures, it lessens the HOA’s burden to do so. 

An HOA Safety and Security committee ensures that there is maximum effort put into the security measures, and guarantees that, since there are many leaders working together, innovative and successful plans are being thought out. 

It is also the responsibility of the HOA Safety and Security committee to train professionals and staff within the community, so they ensure that there are specialized professionals to maintain residents’ protection. 

How to implement an HOA Safety and Security Committee in your HOA? 

The first step you should take before creating any committee is to check your government documents as they will specify the size, rules, regulations, and dismissal of board members. 

Once that is done, define the purpose of the committee, actions, and projects it has planned. What the time frame will be (if it’s a temporary or permanent committee), if any money is required (perhaps for security systems and surveillance cameras), and roles required (president, vice-president, etc.). Discuss how you will report what you are doing to the board (since this committee serves as an advisor to the board of directors, it’s imperative that constant communication is maintained).

Finally, start recruiting members for your committee. For example, you can recruit members with more security and safety knowledge or even with more financial knowledge to help create the committee’s budget, 

Final Points 

Maintaining and implementing safety practices within your HOA is of utmost importance as it not only attracts possible buyers into your neighborhood it also makes residents feel more comfortable and protected. Through the creation of a safety and security committee, you can achieve this. A dedicated committee will guarantee that safety measures are effectively enforced and that security systems are well-kept. 

If you want to learn more about how to maintain safety within your community, click here to discover 8 ways to improve HOA’s security.