Hole in the wall attacks are on the rise. The end of last month saw a hole in the wall style attack on a Jewellery Store in Nantwich. This is the second attack of its kind in Nantwich this year alone. Since 2018 almost 50 hole in the wall burglaries have been recorded at Jewellery and Antique stores across England.
Hole in the wall attacks are where the criminal gains access to your store by creating a hole in either an external wall or a neighbouring property. This could be a large hole to climb through or a smaller hole to reach in and grab valuable items.
One of our main goals at Warrior Doors is to protect lives and livelihoods. That is why we have created this list of tips on how to protect yourself from this threat.
As the owner of a High Value Retail store, you should have had a security evaluation. A security evaluation will help you to identify any weak points in your store’s overall security. That includes potential areas for a hole in the wall attack to take place. It is advised that you get security evaluations at least every few years as tools and techniques are always changing. However, at an absolute minimum, you need an initial security evaluation.
At Warrior Doors we offer free store security evaluations. If you are interested, please give us a call at 0121 706 8400 or email us at [email protected]. Alternatively, you can fill out our contact form by clicking here.
Alarms & CCTV will be the best solution for most High Value Retailers when tackling hole in the wall attacks. It is vitally important to pick up these intrusions as soon as possible so that police can be called.
Your store should already have monitored CCTV and alarm systems in place, ensuring it is up to date with the layout of your store is very important. We have seen hole in the wall attacks on jewellers whose detectors have not gone off during an attack due to new furniture being put in after the installation of the security system. The furniture obscured the detectors view, creating blind spots.
After your security evaluation, you should know the areas of your store that may require extra security measures. We recommend the installation of vibration detectors on any wall that could be accessed externally or via a neighbouring unit. We also recommend an alarm detector on the rear of your safe as there have been a number of attacks to the rear of safes that have not been picked up by alarm systems.
One of the main ways hole in the wall attacks happen is through a wall that connects your store to a neighbouring unit. Often they have lower levels of security allowing the criminal to break into their building and then drill a hole through into yours. You should ask your neighbouring units to alert you if they have any visitors to their store who appear to be looking more at the store’s security than their products or services. If your neighbouring unit is unoccupied, even for a short period of time, that increases the risk of someone using it to gain access to your store. Monitor every day for any sign of a break-in or attempted break-in to the unoccupied store as this is often a sign that someone is planning a hole in the wall attack on your store.
If you are at high risk of attack or have weaker walls we recommend installing an enclosure. An enclosure is a secured room that we at warrior doors can manufacture and certify up to LPS 1175 SR4. We recommend installing an enclosure within your store to keep valuable stock in while the store is closed. That means that if someone was able to gain access to your store via a hole in the wall attack, they wouldn’t be able to access any of your stock. An enclosure can be used to bolster the security of an existing room within your store or to create a new room dependant on your needs.
If you would like to enquire about a security evaluation or an enclosure please give us a call at 0121 706 8400 or email us at [email protected].
We also offer a free webinar on this type of attack which you can sign up for here.
Alternatively, to see our full range of High Value Retail products click here.
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