Earning his Spurs - Pitchcare

Security
and Theft
Most crime reduction
measures are common
sense but, sadly, they
are not common
practice.
In part II of his article,
Tom James questions
the police about
security issues,
investigates what
deterrents there are on
the market and finds
out what one
manufacturer is doing
to make their products
more secure
It is often said that prevention is
better than cure, so a little effort to
reduce the risk of an attack on
premises or sportsgrounds will save
time, money and heartache in the
long run.
So says Andrew Gregory, Crime
Prevention Design Advisor/Crime
Reduction Officer for West Midlands
police, who urges that, for specialist
advice, a club’s first port of call should
be his local equivalent, who will be able
to carry out a thorough survey of your
site.
“First, remember that many crimes
are opportunistic, so the thief will not
necessarily have planned an attack but,
because a simple opportunity has arisen
(leaving grass-cutting equipment
unattended on a sportsfield), they take
it.
Clubs can conduct a simple survey
themselves, he continues, yet rarely do
people have any idea how a thief
operates. They also have little
knowledge about basic crime reduction
measures.
As most thefts are opportunistic, try
and look at your building or
site “through a thief ’s
eyes”, he suggests.
Criminals
try to
pick premises that look unoccupied,
have little or no obvious security and
where they think they won’t be seen or
apprehended. “The technique that we
employ in all security surveying,
however large or small, is called the
‘Onion-peeling principle’, Gregory
explains.
“Imagine peeling off the layers off an
onion. The process simply means
starting at the outside and working
inwards to the ‘risk target’ (what the
potential offender might want to
damage or steal). In practice, this
involves some preparation before
visiting the sportsground or building.”
Clubs then need to look at the
environment - outside the perimeter or
boundary - and work into the centre of
the area that is to be protected (the
interior). “This process applies to every
type of building, from detached houses
with gardens through to a bedsit in a
shared house,” he adds. “It also
includes commercial buildings,
sportsgrounds, garages, outbuildings
and sheds.”
Next, look at the perimeter or
boundary, and the state of the walls,
fencing or other barriers. “We examine
the shell of the property including
windows, walls, doors and accessible
roofs and, finally, work in towards the
interior of the building - its layout,
design and the property stored inside.
Always bear in mind that a
target can be in any of the
layers.”
At each
layer,