As the doors of pubs across Australia and around the globe are closed in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, sadly some are vulnerable to the attentions of criminals or simply opportunistic miscreants.
Pubs and other licensed venues were mandated to close up on Monday, 23 March, following the example set in many other countries; UK pubs closed on the 21st, Irish pubs earlier that week, just prior to St Patrick’s Day.
Since then stories have begun to emerge of quiet venues experiencing burglaries or vandal damage as they sit unattended.
There are additional measures an operator can consider to reduce the likelihood of these attacks, which are often motivated only by opportunity.
Exterior
- CCTV is the best line of defence and a good deterrent. Ensure cameras are operational and ideally capturing high-risk areas. Best practice is 24-hour digital cameras that record to a high-definition storage drive.
Systems are available that incorporate facial recognition, which may be useful during unplanned attacks.
The video should be able to be accessed remotely, typically through a smart phone app.
- Install signage to highlight the premise is closed and secured.
- Have a monitored alarm system, and check all sensors are working correctly.
- Identify any areas that are potentially more vulnerable to forced entry and reinforce them, particularly doors and glass, and ensure service doors are properly secured when not in use.
- Assess outdoor lighting: this can be another strong deterrent, and improves images captured by CCTV.
- Visibility: clear the property of any unnecessary clutter (such as wheelie bins) and cut back trees and hedges close to the structure.
- Shutters: temporary laminated glass panels or plywood boards are good security for windows, but may require council approval. Similarly, consider boarding up rear doors and cellar entrance(s).
- Bollards: barriers to vehicle entry in the appropriate places will reduce the possibility of ram-raids, but these also may require council approval.
Interior
- Cash: if any is to be left on the premises, ensure in a bolt-down safe with anti-tamper triggers. Leave registers visibly open (and empty).
- Machines with money: ensure EGMs and ATMs are emptied and secured, and consider a sign on each stating same.
- Remove valuable goods away from displays and windows.
- Ensure expensive stock is locked away, or preferably off the premises.
- Remove charity boxes from the bars.
- Close curtains (where fitted) and lock interior doors.
- Keep an up-to-date list of persons holding keys, and emergency contacts should the alarm be triggered.
