How To Reduce The Risk Of Burglary To Your Business

Burglary Prevention

One of the most significant daily concerns in owning a business is the sfety and security of your people and assets.  Being aware of your vulnerabilities and acting quickly is your best weapon in minimising burglary and theft events in your business. Burglary in commercial and industrial areas in Auckland are becoming very common particularly in recent months. The pandemic and lockdowns that have challenged thousands of Kiwis with an increase in the cost of living, has been the largest contributor in fuelling higher criminal records, especially theft.  The two main vulnerabilities to business from a theft and burglary perspective are targeted burglaries by professional thieves and the theft of product and assets by staff during their normal work day. Both of these events have a significant impact on your business, not only from a cost and loss perspective, but from the safety and wellbeing of your staff. In this article we are focusing on the burglary of your premises and to assist you in making your business a safer and a more secure operation. Our security experts have compiled some suggestions to help you improve your defences against external attack.

Security Suggestions

Your business will always benefit from a professional security review. This type of review highlights your vulnerabilities and makes recommendations that will enhance your security and protect your people and assets.

  • Ensure that your physical boundaries are in good repair. We often see situations where wire fencing has holes in it has not been maintained. Regular inspection and maintenance of your perimeter fencing is important
  • Ensure you maintain an accurate key and access card register to ensure that all keys and cards are accounted for. This includes collecting the keys and disabling access cards for staff that leave the business
  • Ensure your windows and doors are fit for purpose. Window security films are a budget friendly solution. The thin coatings are tear resistant, strengthening glass against break – ins. Also ensure that you have good quality door and window locks
  • Sensor lighting on the exterior of your buildings and carparks are an effective prevention tool and can assist your CCTV during night hours. Also ensure that normally dark areas are illuminated where possible
  • CCTV systems in your business (internal and exterior) are a great deterrent but also an aid to investigations whether that be after a burglary or post an internal theft. Ensure that the system has adequate recording capability and that it is secure (Cloud Storage is often recommended). We often find that companies have CCTV but have made no allowance for night time vision (usually a lighting plan could greatly assist or adding infra-red illuminators to the cameras will give you great night vision on the camera).
  • Ensure your alarm system is fully operational and fit for purpose. The alarm should be monitored by a monitoring company and a security response company in place should an activation occur. Ensure you have provided clear instructions to your monitoring company as to what your expectations are in the event of an alarm activation
  • Consider the use of point to point beams as part of your external security. The beams are invisible to intruders and activation will trigger lighting and CCTV on the relevant area of your business
  • Security patrols particularly during the night and weekends are very effective both as a deterrent to burglars but also to regularly check that your perimeter and buildings are locked and secure and to check for suspicious activity in the area
  • Be aware of criminal trends in your area. This may include awareness of burglaries and thefts in your area. Your contracted security provider should have this information and should disseminate relevant information to its clients on a regular basis. It is worth discussing this with your provider

From time to time it is operationally necessary for companies to leave freight and goods outside their secure warehousing overnight. In recent weeks criminal groups have been targeting companies that have left goods under their canopies as opposed to inside the warehouse. This is very inviting to thieves as they have no risk of triggering alarms and having breached any security fencing they can have simple access. If you are in the situation of having to leave freight outside, consider engaging your security provider to have a static guard on site for the night. This is cost effective compared to the loss of high value customer goods

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Do you want to discuss your security and theft investigation requirements with our security experts? Please feel free to contact our team directly for more details on the Professional Security Services in Auckland offered by Wings Security.