STAR*TECH Joumal
0
February 1993
GAME SECURITY TIPS
P ADLOCKs, KEvs, Dos AND DoN'Ts
Richard P. Holley
Southeast Game Brokers, Inc.
Tampa, Florida
Making our cash boxes secure
is probably the most neglected
area in the coin-op business. It
starts with the manufacturer
who will claim that a peculiar
game will earn $500 plus per
week and yet the game comes
from the factory with a 50-cent
lock and four screws securing
the cashbox. Does that make
any sense at all? The same is
true for "deluxe games that
cost as much as $12,000 each.
A 6-year old could get into the
cash box with a screwdriver.
What is fascinating to me is
that many of those who are
willing to spend that much for
a game and, therefore, expect
big bucks in the cash box are
not willing to spend more than
$10 to protect their invest-
ment.
Much more can be done in the
design of the cash boxes cur-
rently being used in the coin-
op business, but for now, this is
the way it is, so let's smarten
up and do a better job of pro-
tecting them ourselves. Even
the typical video game that
costs $3,000 and is expected to
earn its keep should be ad-
equately protected, and 10
bucks ain't gonna get the job
done.
In this article, I am going to
discuss padlocks, but before I
do, let me say this. One has to
be extra careful when writing
about the way that our games
are broken into. We want to
inform our fellow coinpersons,
but we don't want to give an
education to anyone with bad
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intentions on "how to" get into
our machines. Of course, this
will be no news for the pros -
they already know all this
stuff, and yes, there certainly
are groups or gangs that travel
the country breaking into coin-
operated anything as a profes-
sion.
With this in mind, we are typi-
cally protecting our machines
from this type of break-in
where the thieves want to get
in and out of the cash box fast
and clean without any notice-
able damage. You see, if they
damage the machine "the
bank is closed" and that is no
good for them. They definitely
don't want your machines out
of order because they won't be
able to come back every other
day and remove the money
from the already open game. It
interferes with their cash fl.ow.
You say what about the cops?
Forget it. The cops are better
off giving tickets on the inter-
state. These guys have been
arrested hundreds of times,
and in most cases they ar~
back out hitting coin-operateL
machines before you've put
new locks on yours. The ones
that ever did any time in
prison at all improved their
craftsmanship while there
and are back out doing their
job better than ever.
So what about padlocks? Pad-
locks are not the only factor
when it comes to securing a
cash box, but they are impor-
tant, and you need to know a
few things about them. Re-
member this: A thiefis going to
get into the machine from the
easiest point -and in many
cases, it happens to be the pad-
lock.
First of all, thepadlockyou u r .
has to have a shackle large
enough so that a bolt cutter
that can be hidden in a shirt or