Businesses face many threats to their physical assets. The number of property crimes in 2023 alone totaled 6.4 million offenses, many of which occurred in the spring and summer. The temperature isn’t the only thing that rises from June to August. Theft, vandalism, and violent crimes all trend upward in the warmer months, making commercial security a pressing priority during the summer.
Criminal activity can cost your company more than money. It can impact your insurance premiums, put your reputation at risk, cost you valuable time, and make your employees feel unsafe. Criminals are ramping up for the spring and summer, but there are ways to stop them from making your property just another statistic.
Common Crimes in the Warmer Months
There is a connection between climate-related stressors and various crimes, including homicide, assault, robbery, and burglaries. Commercial site security must account for the following crimes in the warmer months:
- Theft and burglary: Most thefts and robberies take place between June and August. As people go on vacation, businesses may close early or have fewer staff on-site, which gives criminals more opportunities to commit crimes like motor vehicle theft.
- Vandalism: Would-be criminals can become more aggressive in warmer weather, which can lead to a rise in vandalism of commercial properties.
- Violent crime: An 18°F increase in temperature is associated with a 9% increase in the risk of violent crime. There are various theories to explain this phenomenon, including heat-related aggression, an increase in social events, greater alcohol consumption, and more violence related to property crimes.
Although the above crimes are common, every type of crime is subject to seasonal variations. Understanding physical security best practices for each season is crucial to staying one step ahead of criminals.
How to Prepare Your Commercial Site for Warm-Weather Crime
Many criminals are primarily opportunistic, seeking out targets that offer low risk and high reward. In the warmer seasons, they are even more motivated to act, and they will look for weak access points, poor visibility, and ineffective overall security. Steps you can take to stop criminals in their tracks include:
1. Get a Comprehensive Threat Assessment
Criminals are experts at uncovering weaknesses in your property. A professional threat assessment can help you identify and correct these vulnerabilities before intruders ever notice them. These professionals will gather critical information, including:
- Property size and layout: The location, size, and layout of your property reveal vulnerable areas like entry points and low visibility.
- Current physical security posture: A professional can examine your existing physical security to pinpoint improvement opportunities.
- Historical data: Historical data for your neighborhood and property is used to better understand patterns and potential vulnerabilities.
- Operational processes: Criminals may observe your operations to understand your daily and weekly schedules. A professional will do the same in order to create strategic solutions based on factors like shifts, deliveries, peak activity times, and closing.
2. Protect Your Perimeter
Site perimeter security is among the most crucial elements of an effective summer security strategy. It begins with keeping unauthorized people outside the perimeter so you can monitor access and secure high-value items.
Create an intimidating barrier between your property and criminals using various deterrence and detection methods. Combining security measures ensures you can achieve a multi-layered security strategy — but it all starts with electric fencing.
Install an electric fence inside your existing fence to effectively defend against access attempts, stopping crime before it happens. If criminals attempt to breach the perimeter, the electric fence delivers a safe but memorable pulsed electric shock, which is more than enough to prevent them from trying again.
3. Control Access to Your Property
Once you have electric fencing in place, you can better control access to your property, ensuring protection and security at all entry and exit points. Gate Access Control integrates several components to provide enhanced overall site security. Components like video and audio intercoms, credential readers, cameras, and specialized gate locks allow you to monitor who enters your property and when they leave.
4. Leverage Video Surveillance and Remote Monitoring
Your risk assessment will reveal blind spots and other areas on your property that are particularly attractive to thieves. You can add a layer of security in these areas with video surveillance. Placing video surveillance along your perimeter and in high-risk areas allows you to capture criminal activity in real-time and alert the authorities if a crime is in progress.
With remote monitoring, you can access the footage from anywhere at any time. In case of an attempted breach, the footage is shared with law enforcement to ensure fast dispatch to your site.
5. Secure the Building
Once you’ve secured your perimeter with an integrated electric fencing system, it’s time to turn your attention to the building itself. Ensure that all doors and windows are closed when the building is unoccupied. High-value items should be stored in a safe room, away from any vulnerable entry points.
Add another layer of security by integrating building intrusion detection. Door contacts and other intrusion detection devices provide immediate alerts should anyone attempt to breach a building on your property. You can grant building access to authorized personnel only and log the entry and exit times of employees.
6. Use Strategic Lighting
Strategically placed lighting acts as part of your overall approach to site security, giving criminals nowhere to hide. Install security lighting in blind spots and any concealed areas of your property that criminals may try to use to their advantage. The better illuminated your property is, the less attractive it is as a target for would-be thieves.
You can also implement alarm-based lighting that automatically detects intrusion along your perimeter when the electric fence alarm is triggered.
7. Invest in Vegetation Control
During the warmer months, landscaping and vegetation control services are critical parts of your overall perimeter security strategy. A clear fence line gives would-be criminals fewer places to hide along your perimeter, and ensures your electric fence continues to function properly.
Partner with a reputable landscaping company to conduct initial clearing and removal of vegetation when your electric fencing is installed as well as regular vegetation maintenance on an ongoing basis.
Contact AMAROK for an Effective Business Security Solution
During the spring and summer, you need physical security solutions you can trust. Stop external theft before it happens with AMAROK. With our flagship product The Electric Guard Dog™ Fence, 99% of customers experience zero external theft. We secure over 8,000 sites with the ultimate perimeter security solution.
Talk to an AMAROK security expert or request a threat assessment today.
