Business and other premises reopening saw overall drop in security-related incidents in first quarter of this year- but Construction bucked the trend.
Netwatch, the leader in proactive visual monitoring, reports that intrusions and attempted break-ins in the first quarter of this year were down on average 5% compared to the same period in 2021.
However incidents at construction and related businesses bucked the trend, increasing by 28%.
Colin Hayes, Netwatch Head of Business in Ireland and UK, said: “As works have returned on construction sites, there are more materials and equipment at risk of theft, which could explain the increase in incidents on sites. In contrast other premises are no longer left unattended and so reduce the attraction for attempted intrusions.”
Overall, security activity recorded by Netwatch Intervention Specialists in all sectors shows a 5% decrease, according to Netwatch’s Security Trends Report for the first quarter of the year. The report was compiled from approximately 5,000 incidents reported by Carlow-based company during January – March 2022.
During the period, office blocks recorded a 26% decrease. “Office blocks are finally seeing a return to the workplace in the last few months so systems are now back to being armed outside of office hours only. This would account for the decrease,” said Hayes.
Mr Hayes added: “It is important to note that not all incidents we intervene in have criminal intent and in some cases, people may wander innocently into perimeter of a business premises while they are unoccupied. In these circumstances, our intervention specialists would warn them away to ensure their safety and avoid potential public liability issues for the businesses we protect.”
Unsurprisingly the hours from 6pm to midnight continue to be the most common for attempted intrusions at business premises with almost a third of incidents occurring between those times. However, the time between 6am and 12noon has shown an increase in activity of 14%.
Saturday remains the most active day of the week, but there has also been an increase of 9% in activity on Mondays.
Mr Hayes said that the Netwatch real-time monitoring technology can help identify the movement and location of trespassers while they are onsite: “We quickly identify the level of threat, issue a real-time audio warning before an intrusion takes place or damage is caused. We can alert the Gardai and site owners, all within a brief period. If any intruder is still in the area when the Gardai arrive, an intervention specialist can help direct them to the suspects still in camera range.”
Source: Netwatch internal incident report January-March 2022.
