Basic Small Business Security
Smoking Out The Burglars!

Most burglaries are opportunist, in other words they didn't plan to break-in until they saw an opportunity - with that in mind, eliminating opportunities reduces crime. See Basic Commercial Premises Security

Intruder alarms are essential but slow police response times may increase the comfort zone for burglars, knowing they have 5 or 10 minutes, or more to remove your goods and do damage.

How can you delay a burglar? - The obvious things are strong shutters, solid secure doors and good locks on closed windows. These will certainly prevent or delay a burglar but the alarm may not have been triggered at the first attempts of entry, depending on the system. Activating an internal PIR (Passive Infra Red) sensor may be the point of alarm.

The lead time a burglar has is not just from the moment the alarm is triggered but from when the police are informed. If the alarm is not monitored, you are relying on someone calling the police after hearing the alarm - will someone call the police immediately or phone to complain that the alarm has been sounding for too long? This gives the burglar even more time!

Take this scenario; thieves are on your premises and are aware that the alarm is sounding. They don't know whether the alarm is monitored but know they have at least five minutes. Look around, what can they remove in that time?

Obviously you cannot lock everything away for practical reasons but if the burglar cannot see anything ....the burglary becomes difficult. Turning the power off doesn't help because powerful lamps are small and lightweight, and part of a burglar's kit.

What is the solution? - Smoke 'em out!!

Create a smoke Screen quite literally. Bear with me on this; remove the primary sense of sight and you can defeat intruders and burglars.

Am I suggesting you set fire to your property? Perhaps 'smoke' sounds drastic and 'fog' may be more descriptive. Security fog systems monitor your property just like burglar alarms but instead of triggering an audible alarm, it triggers a chemical reaction that causes fog to be distributed instantly. Imagine a long lasting, dry, dense fog cloaking your property. It is this that 'blinds' the burglar and leaves just two options, scramble about in thick fog without clear vision and not knowing where to go, or simply getting out fast.