Crime Trend Alert from the Everett Police Department – December 1, 2010:
While reviewing crime reports over the past several weeks, a series of commercial burglaries was noted by the Everett Police Department – Crime Analysis Unit.
Particulars:
- Inside the City of Everett: 5
- Regionally, outside of Everett: 10
- MO: Locations with multiple businesses attached (similar to a strip mall). A less secure, vacant or smaller business is selected and entry is forced/pried through an exterior door. Once inside, access to surrounding businesses is made by ripping through drywall. Multiple businesses are burglarized at one time.
- Cash is targeted – typically not merchandise
- There appears to be prior knowledge of building and business layout.
Recommendations:
- Research and hire alarm professionals to install an audible alarm and monitor your system
- Alarms are for entry detection and are not physical barriers
- Have clearly visible alarm signage
- Install video cameras to watch cash registers
- Secure doors, windows, skylights and other openings with high quality locks
- Use heavy-duty solid construction rear doors with bars secured to the structure for added strength
- DO NOT LEAVE CASH IN YOUR BUSINESS OVERNIGHT!
Paw Tips:
- Lock your business at night.
- Proper lighting deters crime.
- Use your alarm system.
- Work with neighboring businesses.
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For more information on these burglaries, you can refer to reports from KIRO news, KOMO news, and the Everett HeraldNet.
Most burglar alarm technologies miss these strip mall break-ins, because the burglars get in through an unusual point of entry – either a shared wall, roof hatch or drop down ceiling – and the system is delayed in activating or doesn’t activate at all.
Sonitrol Pacific’s audio sensors deliver wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling coverage, making the point of entry moot. We regularly send police to arrest burglars who got into our clients’ business by first breaking into a neighboring business (hear one such incident). And, it’s not uncommon for our operators to send police to make arrests because they are hearing audio of threatening sounds from a client’s sensors when actually, the burglar is inside the business next door.
Monitored by a member of the Sonitrol Pacific team, our audio sensor technology is so effective that police arrested suspects before they got into our clients’ buildings 30% of the time in 2009.
As the HeraldNet article points out, Jay’s Market in Lake Stevens once was a victim of the “drywall burglars” and this current rash of break-ins follow a similar modus operandi. Happily, Jay’s Market became a Sonitrol Pacific client a few months ago and our detection led to the arrest of three suspected burglars on November 6.