As windows and doors are easily penetrated to gain illegal entry into a retail business, without some physical security barrier in place, thieves can break a window, or pry open a door, and in less than two minutes remove thousands of dollars of your inventory.
Cellular phone, MP3 players, laptops, tablets have always been a hot item to steal, being small items many are grabbed at once and easy to carry out. Some describe these types of items as C.R.A.V.E.D. simply; “concealable-removable-available-enjoyable and disposable”.
Many thieves will attempt to sell these items to second hand shops, pawn shops, flea markets or via the internet on auction sites, on-line classifieds and recycling companies.
Many cell phones get shipped abroad, the demand for cell phones in developing countries is on the rise, organized crime groups know they can get top dollar in these lucrative markets.
Thieves do not hang around the front door of a business to pick the door lock.
Simple tools of a thief;
- A mask for disguise
- Gloves so not to leave finger prints
- A pry bar is easily used to pry open the front doors
- A rock is used to break a window
- A vehicle sometimes used to drive into the store
As important a alarm system is to get response units to the scene, the thieves know how fast they can be in and out of a store, and how long it generally takes for responders to show up.
High Definition Video surveillance is also a great security system to review how they got in, what they took and see the color of the mask. Most cases these criminals are disguised making it difficult to find them.
Physical storefront protection is one of the best deterrents against smash and grab robberies, providing an actual second layer of physical defense. Alarm systems with glass break sensors alert response teams as soon as the window breaks and the alarm sounds. The perpetrator now needs to deal with a second layer of defense like inside the store mounted security gates, these being highly visible will deter most opportunistic criminals looking for a quick score.
Having steel bollards installed in front of your store will help with drive in attempts.
Physical storefront protection security gates are an excellent tool to secure cellular stores, as well as any other retail store that sells high priced, easy to move items