Burglars across the country are targeting construction sites and other commercial premises as social distancing and isolation practices mean they are much less likely to be detected.
The warning comes from security specialist company VPS UK, which has collated data from police reports, news items, and their own customer feedback.
The spike has so far been detected in Manchester, Merseyside, Gwent and Cleveland.
“It’s no surprise that when whole city centres are deserted, that opportunistic thieves will take their chances, especially with an already stretched police service,” said David Wormald, key account director for hospitality and retail at VPS.
“And because so many people are staying at home now, there’s even fewer chances that an attempted burglary on a commercial site will be spotted and reported.”
The British Security Industry Association recently confirmed that the current definition of key critical workers includes regulated security professionals. Roles essential to supporting law and order, with the potential to reduce demand on policing, also meet the critical worker definition. This includes the guarding and CCTV monitoring of empty or closed commercial, retail or office premises, and the provision of alarm response centres including mobile units.
“Even though it is a designated key worker sector, the security industry also has to place a priority of care for its workers during the virus crisis. Inevitably we will have some operational strains if more staff are required to self-isolate,” continued David.
“But we are more fortunate than others in being able to deploy both guards and CCTV security systems, because the latter is a safe, socially distant means to monitor premises via a remote video monitoring centre. Vulnerable premises like construction sites, which contain valuable plant and equipment, are now standing empty for a few weeks, so they need to kept secure.”
David concluded: “No two sites are ever the same, and when the March UK crime statistics are published soon, it would be worth checking to see if one area has witnessed a greater rise in criminal activity on commercial premises than another. That would be one indication of greater vulnerability for shops and pubs, for example, and may highlight where additional security measures might be needed.”
