You approach a building on late-night mobile patrol; which signs would you look for to determine if someone is inside?

• A. Signs of Forced entry
• B. People or vehicles around site
• C. Alarm triggered
• D. All of the above

Answer: (D)

The main idea is that occupancy can show up in several ways, and you’re safer and more accurate when you consider multiple indicators together. Signs of forced entry point to someone tampering with doors or windows, which suggests the space may be occupied or targeted. Seeing people or vehicles around the site, especially at unusual hours, adds to the possibility that someone is present or nearby. An alarm being triggered is a direct signal that something occurred inside, whether from a genuine intrusion, a false alarm, or a fault, and it requires immediate verification. Relying on just one cue can be misleading, but when you take all of these together you have a more complete read on whether someone is inside.

So the best approach is to treat all these signals as potential confirmation and follow your patrol procedures: observe from a safe vantage, verify any alarm, and check access points according to protocol, escalating to control or authorities if needed.