Perhaps surprisingly, burglary is a much bigger problem for business than it is for householders.

Research published by the Australia Institute of Criminology reveals that only around 4.2% of households are burgled each year, compared with 27.4% of businesses.

That same report also stated that “… almost 60% of business premises victimized by burglary (including attempted burglaries) were burgled more than once during the year; sometimes as frequently as once a week on average”.

The major types of crime committed against business include:

• Burglary (typically when no one is on the premises);
• Robbery (usually involving confrontation with employees);
• Motor vehicle crime;
• Vandalism;
• Theft by Customers (especially shoplifting);
• Theft by Employees (of goods and/or cash); and
• Fraud.

This Blog is mainly concerned about the first two – Burglary and Robbery – where physical protection and monitoring systems are most appropriate.

And in relation to these two areas, we’ll look at:

• “Environmental Design Strategies”;
• Security Barriers and Monitoring Systems; and
• Safes.

1.0 Environmental Design Strategies

Environmental Design Strategies really refers to how the environment surrounding your building affects its susceptibility to crime – especially burglary, robbery and vandalism.

In designing and managing the environment, what you need to bear in mind is ‘natural access control’, ‘natural surveillance’ and ‘territorial reinforcement’.

1.1 Natural Access Control

The idea behind natural access control is to create the perception in the mind of the would-be criminal that they are at an increased risk of being observed and caught. This is achieved by clearly demarking what is public space and what is private space.

Typically this involves using physical barriers – closed and locked doors and gates and often guards.

These physical measures clearly define where people can and cannot go, creating the perception of heightened risk when an unauthorized person considers venturing into a ‘private’ area.

More to follow…

Steven Szabo

ProtecSYS Pty. Ltd.

1300 788 132