If your business has never had to worry about the issue of ram-raiding, you are probably one of the lucky ones. This is a growing problem – ATM ram-raids nearly doubled from 2014 to 2017, and in the past four years the problem has only gotten worse. Dakota Murphey runs through some tips on how to mitigate the threat.
Yes, it is unfortunately the case that ram-raiding is still a major problem for owners of buildings and business premises. Whether it comes in the form of breaking into stores to steal high-value items or breaching an office building in order to gain access to the data of the company based inside.
If you have business premises and you have anything of value inside – be that goods and materials, or data and information – you could find yourself a target of ram-raiders. It is important that you should take the time to address this issue and reduce the risk of suffering from this type of attack before it happens.
Here we take a look at what your company can do and the measures that you can put in place to reduce the risk of a ram-raid.
Too often businesses are targeted with ram-raid attacks, simply because the criminals were aware that there were high-value items available. Businesses should do everything in their power to minimise the risk that criminals will know that high-value goods are at the premises – especially overnight when no-one is around.
When you lock up, make sure that high-value items are hidden wherever possible – though clearly this won’t be possible for all businesses.
If you are concerned that your business could be a target for ram-raiding, you need to put the right defences in places. These defences need to start with blocking access to vehicles so that they aren’t simply allowed a clear run to smash into the building to gain access that way. For this, you will need physical protection systems in place, such as concrete barriers.
According to civil engineering specialists Maltaward, concrete barriers are ideal for reducing access opportunities and protecting buildings. Barriers should be strategically placed in the areas that are most likely to be vulnerable to ram-raids.
It should be noted that if you are choosing bollards to minimise the risk of ram-raiding, you should look for those that are tested to the proper regulatory standards. There are two relevant publicly available specifications (PAS) for impact testing for hostile vehicle mitigation. These are PAS 68 and PAS 170.
If criminals perceive a property to be an easy target, they are more likely to attempt to launch an attack against it. This is why it is essential that businesses should do all the can to show off their defences and make it clear that this is somewhere that ram-raiders would find to be challenging to attack.
Installing CCTV systems, as well as ensuring any intruder alarms in place are properly certified and linked to an ARC (alarm receiving centre), are therefore vital pieces of the security jigsaw. You might assume that these measures are only effective after a crime has taken place, but they are also effective in preventing attacks. Modern IP surveillance camera systems with analytics software embedded can provide real-time alerts if they recognise a perceived threat. Make sure that you make it clear that your premises has CCTV so that criminals know that any actions will be on film.
Too many companies still do not consider security enough of a priority. This is problematic as it can lead to a situation where businesses will actually be poorly protected against crimes like ram-raiding, and will also assume that this kind of crime is unlikely to happen to them. In fact, these are exactly the kind of businesses likely to be targeted.
It is important to consider the security that you have in place. Of course, we have talked already about CCTV, intruder alarms and barriers, but other options include guarding or mobile patrol services – particularly if your premises is left vacant for any length of time. Once again, these can act as a brilliant deterrent.
Ram-raiding is certainly a major problem for businesses – but some basic fixes can help to mitigate many of the common risks. Adding simple installations such as CCTV and physical protective deterrents like concrete barriers can deter criminals from considering attacking you in the first place, and make it much harder for them to carry out their attack successfully.
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