Smash and Grab Robberies and your Business
A smash and grab robbery is pretty much what it sounds like.Criminals smash through doors or windows of a property, take the items that they’re looking for and leave the scene quickly. Smash and grab robbers use speed to their advantage. They know that it takes time for police or security guards to arrive on scene, even if a monitored alarm system is installed.
Most smash and grab robberies take just minutes. Some take only a few seconds. There is simply no way for the authorities to respond quickly enough to catch these criminals in the act. Security cameras may capture footage of the crime, but smash and grab criminals often wear scarves, hoods or masks to conceal their identities for this reason.
Smash and grab robbers leave chaos and destruction behind. In addition to the broken glass and damaged windows and doors, criminals also damage display cases, ruin merchandise and they can even cause structural damage to your property. This leads to expensive repair costs. You may even need to close your business down for some time in order to make the necessary repairs.
So, is your business a target for these types of crimes?
Unfortunately, many businesses are.
Criminals look for locations where they can easily get in and out. They also look for businesses that have valuable merchandise that they can easily carry out of the store. They want items that aren’t large or bulky or heavy because lighter items are easier to carry out quickly.
This means that properties that have large windows or glass doors often become targets. So do properties that sell items like jewellery, mobile phones, small electronics, medication and other small yet valuable items.
So what can you do?
Protecting your Business from Smash and Grab Robberies
In order to protect your business, you need to make it more difficult for criminals to enter your property and leave with the items that are valuable to them. Most criminals do not want to start crimes that are complicated or those that will take a long time. They want to get in and out of a property quickly and leave the scene before the police arrive.
One excellent way to protect your property from criminals is to install physical security gates. These gates make it significantly more difficult for criminals to access a property. While other security tools are designed to attract attention to a crime or capture evidence, security gates put a physical barrier between criminals and your property. This means that it will be much more difficult for a criminal to break in quickly. Most criminals simply avoid situations where physical gates are installed. They know that it will take them much more time and effort to break into a location than they want to spend. In most cases, they’ll simply move on.
You can also protect your business by keeping valuables locked away when your location is closed. Keeping valuable merchandise displayed in windows and other easy to access locations increases the likelihood of a smash and grab robbery taking place. Locking these items in secure cabinets or behind gates outside of working hours makes it much less likely that a criminal will try to break in.
Want some more tips to improving the security of your business? Download our helpful guide to Improving Your Security Mindset.
