What can we do to help prevent a burglary? A question we often get asked here in our Sheffield office at ESP Projects is, how to prevent a burglary? This is an interesting question as it covers so many facets about your physical security and do some extent your digital awareness.
Whilst it is impossible / Impracticable to make a building 100% invulnerable to break ins, there are many things that you can do to reduce the chance of falling victim to burglary.
The majority of break ins are opportunistic, so a great number of steps can be made to ensure you are not leaving opportunities around to be taken by any would be criminals. Ensuring that your traditional first line of defence is in place is essential.
What do I mean?
Make sure that when leaving your premises that all routes for access are closed and secured. There is no greater invite to an opportunistic thief than leaving an easy route into your building, be it an open window or a weak door lock. In a business premises with todays working schedules this can often be tricky, staff leaving at different times from different areas of the building, it can be a bit of a struggle to ensure that all doors and windows are closed up safe.
Keep a close track of your keys, ensuring that you know where they are and don’t leave them in unsecure areas, or areas that are easy to access or fish them away from.
Consider locking internal doors too, especially to any areas with valuable or sensitive contents. We already covered how keyless entry systems can help make keeping doors secure without the need for innumerable keys and reduce the headache associated with them, without introducing the weakness of a master key. What are the benefits of Keyless Access control? Electronic Security Protection Sheffield
Maintain your property: An unkempt property can signal to burglars that the premises is not well cared for and may well have areas that could easily be accessed.
Get to know your neighbours: Building a good relationship with your neighbours (business or residential) creates a sense of community and increases vigilance. They can notify you or the authorities if they notice any unusual activity, and of course you should reciprocate!
Outdoor lighting: Adequate outdoor lighting can discourage burglars from approaching your property, and investigate any means of gaining entry. Installing motion-sensor lights around entrances, walkways, and dark areas can be a great discouragement to those who would rather work in the shadows unseen.
Install a security system: Consider installing a reliable security system. Alarms with sensors to detect if doors or windows are not secure, or if there is any internal movement in your building can provide extra security for you, and also alert you remotely if there is a break in.
CCTV can provide a great visible deterrent for burglars: and give you the ability to monitor your premises remotely via app installed on your phone, giving you further peace of mind
Don’t advertise your absence, or the contents of your building: Be mindful about what you post on social media that may relate to valuables that would be stored at your premises, or periods when your building would be left un attended. Don’t leave any valuable equipment on show.
When you are away from your premises you can create the illusion of someone being there. Automated lights at varying times can create the impression that someone is in the building and moving around.
Secure valuables: Keep valuable items out of sight from windows to avoid tempting burglars. Consider investing in a safe for storing important documents, jewellery, and other valuable items.
Summary
As you can see, physical security of a building can include a many layers and can often be bewildering, especially when you start digging into the technical facets of “system x” vs “system y” so it can often be very helpful to talk to a security expert about systems such as alarms, access control and CCTV and their various features and interoperability. If you want to talk to us about any aspects of security we are always happy to talk about how to make your premises more secure, feel free to get in touch on 0330 2020 118 and Contact Us.
