When you’re looking at your security needs do you need to consider the criminal activity that’s happening in your locality? This blog walks you through our answer, some additional information you might need to consider and the considerations we’d make for our HQ location in Derbyshire.
Our short answer to the question of whether the crime rate in your location is important when trying to understand what is essential for full security protection is YES. If you are buying a new building or relocating your business then it’s important to know what’s happening to ensure your perimeters, car parks and buildings are as secure as possible.
You’ll probably be aware of things that happen regularly; like car thefts or vandalism just by travelling to the site. However, we’d strongly advise that proper research is conducted on the crime rates in the area where your business is based. It’s an important factor to consider when investing in security measures. By knowing the crime rates in the locality, it can help you make informed decisions about the level and types of security measures you may need to implement to protect your business, employees, customers, and assets.
Let’s look at a few scenarios
- High crime rates in the area means high risk of theft, vandalism, unwanted site entry, or other security incidents. This means you’ll need more robust security measures.
- Low crime rates in the area means you should look at installing cost-effective security solutions and investing in systems which help with safety (for example roll call for fire alarms from door access control)
- Customer safety needs to be considered in high crime rate areas, whether that’s ensuring the visitor car par is secure to enter/exit and cameras are used inside the premises for their protection.
- Employee safety is a huge factor for every business, security needs in high crime rate areas mean the appropriate measures for a safe environment for them to come to work in every day.
Where can you find the latest information?
By using a contractor, such as JKE Fire & Security, they will know where to look for the crime rates in your exact area and we complete this research as part of the site survey we undertake for every client.
If you want to make a start then reliable sources include the local constabulary website, local government websites or some reputable statistical databases (like the Office for National Statistics). Sometimes the police forces or councils will have people you can talk to for example ‘safer neighbourhood teams’ who will take the time to give you the lowdown for your area.
Derbyshire crime rate
In March 2023 there were 384 burglaries in the county and 481 vehicle thefts, 60 thefts from a person and 536 cases of shoplifting. What’s also available is that the crime rate in Derby is 32% higher than anywhere else in the East Midlands and 43% higher than the national figures. So the area where JKE is based has a high crime rate.
Now these crime rates cover all of Derbyshire so it’s important to drill down.
Our base is on an A road on the outskirts of the city centre and is pretty much surrounded by countryside, there’s a few dwellings close by, a car dealership and large DAF truck wash and centre next to us. In our postcode area the statistics look a little different; 11 burglaries and 3 vehicle thefts. This changes our risk factors a little bit from the earlier Derbyshire picture; car park CCTV cameras, reception door access control, intruder alarm and internal door access control might sound like a lot but the back fields which has a track does expose the rear of the building and car park. Ensuring no unauthorised people can access the building is important and if someone is welcomed into reception and tries to move around the office there’s restrictions using simple door access control mechanisms. Staff and visitors safety is paramount so that’s why our security systems are up to date for our office.
If you’d like to talk about the best security systems for your premises please drop us a message to marketing@jkesecurity.com or call us on 0800 2545645 and we can start the steps to giving you peace of mind for premise security.