Bicycle stores are common targets for criminals. Here are some bike shop security tips that will keep your property and your assets safe from smash and grab criminals
Protecting Bicycle Stores from Robberies and Crime
There are at least 7,000 bicycle shops in the United States, and they produce sales of more than $6 billion each year. With millions of bicycles sold every year, it’s obviously a big market with a lot of demand. And today’s bicycles have so many options are professionally designed and built with sticker prices in the thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, that also means it’s a big target for criminals.
Criminals often target bicycle shops because bicycles, are very valuable, also easy to move out of a store in a hurry. They have a high value on the black market and are quite difficult to track once they’ve been stolen. Many criminals steal bicycles, then quickly and easily resell them online to unsuspecting victims. The ease of these crimes and the high potential for profit make bike shop theft quite common.
This means that bicycle store security is incredibly vital. Storefront windows and doors need to have a layer of security. Here are some tips to keep your bicycle store safe from criminals.
Use Physical Security
A crucial aspect of bicycle store security is physical security tools. While an alarm system can alert police to a crime in progress and surveillance cameras can record evidence, only physical security gates keep criminals out.
As mentioned, criminals don’t want to be seen committing a crime. They’d rather break into a bike store, steal what they’re looking for, and leave the scene long before the police arrive. Even if the authorities are contacted as soon as a store is broken into, it takes time for them to respond to a call. By the time they do, the criminals are often long gone.
Physical security tools keep criminals out and are extremely important to the layered security needed.In fact, they create such a strong barrier that they deter criminals from even considering a property to be a target. They’d much rather choose an easier store where the likelihood of being caught is much lower. However, while the store is open, gates can easily be rolled or folded out of the way, keeping your bike store looking welcoming during business hours.
Keep Product Out of Sight
It makes sense to display desirable and attractive bikes near store windows during business hours. These bicycles attract people into the store and likely increase sales. However, during the night, these same tactics attract criminals. It’s important to keep high-value products away from windows and doors when your store is closed for business. Otherwise, criminals who are scouting properties for potential crime targets may choose your property.
While it might be time-consuming to move displays out of windows at night, doing so will go a long way to protect your inventory.
Use Lighting
Criminals do not want to be caught committing a crime. That’s why smash and grab robberies are so common among thieves. They want to be in and out of a store as quickly as possible so that no one can catch them or stop them. Improving the lighting around your property helps make crimes more noticeable, which keeps criminals away. They would much rather work in the dark where the likelihood of being spotted is significantly
lower.
Consider installing motion-activated lights on the exterior of your building. These will save on electricity costs (since they only turn on when motion is detected) and they’ll keep criminals away. Lighting can also improve the video quality captured by surveillance cameras, so you’ll be more likely to get usable evidence if a crime does take place.
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