Burglary of Business Premises

Research shows that offenders who commit commercial burglary also commit residential burglary and other crimes involving residents.

In-depth study of a group of commercial burglars found that the most common motive for committing commercial burglary was to obtain money.  Other factors cited included excitement, unemployment and the influence of drugs or alcohol.  The study group also found that burglars were influenced in their choice of target by the ease with which stolen goods could be sold on. Offenders identified the most effective deterrents as the presence of security guards or the existence of premises overlooking the target.

RACY have designed a leaflet to help retailers deal effectively with the aftermath of a burglary. Information from this leaflet is contained below:

VANDALISM OR BURGLARY?

You arrive at your premises - and a window has been broken. This may be criminal damage, or break-in. It is important to know which quickly, to improve the chances of catching the offender.

CHECK

Look for signs that there has been an entry, and for signs that there has been a theft or disturbance to property. Check the whole of the property. If you are concerned that there may be someone still on the premises, call the police and wait for them. If there is a burglar alarm, check what section of the property is shown as entered, and if there is a time shown for the intrusion, make a note of it.

If you conclude that a burglary has taken place, this increases the seriousness of the offence under investigation. If the police are unaware of the offence - you find it in the morning when you arrive - phone the non-emergency number at once - 0845 6060 247. If you think there is still someone in the premises, phone the emergency number - 999 or 112.

LEAVE IT IN PLACE

Should I clear up the mess so that I can trade as nearly normal as possible? Definitely not.

· Leaving the mess in place will enable the police to work out what has happened and gives the best chance of obtaining incriminating evidence.

· If there is glass from a broken window, do not touch it. It may have blood from the offender on it, which can be matched against DNA records, and which may be a health hazard as well - some burglars are drug addicts.

· There may be other evidence, such as marks from a jemmy.

· Even something as small and insignificant as a cigarette end may be valuable. If the offender smoked it and discarded it, it may have his DNA on it from his saliva.

Glass from a broken window can be valuable in detecting an offender. When glass is smashed, minute particles fly off and may embed in the clothing of the intruder. When a suspect is arrested his (or her) clothing can be seized for forensic examination, and his or her home and vehicle can be searched to look for evidence to link to the crime, for instance clothing matching that seen on cctv footage.

· Intruders sometime leave things behind, such as a drinks can or a cigarette end or even clothing. If there is anything like that, ensure that it is untouched so that it can be taken by the police.

· Keep away from an external point of entry to your premises, as there may be shoemarks there. A mark recovered from a crime scene can be compared to that made by a suspect's shoe. All shoes develop unique wear and marks, for instance if someone has stood on a nail and made a cut, and it may be possible to say as a matter of expert opinion that a particular shoe may have or may well have made a mark left at a crime scene. Although that may not be enough on its own, it can contribute to other evidence which, taken together, is enough to secure a conviction. And the stronger and clearer the evidence which the police collect, the more likely that an offender will admit the offence without a trial.

If there is the prospect that forensic evidence can be obtained, a crime scene investigator (CSI) will attend. They are experts, and may have a number of crime scenes to deal with after a busy night of crime, so your crime scene may not be the first on their list.

The CSI will want to learn from you what you can say about the crime, eg what appears to have happened, what anyone else can tell you about it, and what has been interfered with. The CSI is not the investigating officer, who will be a constable or detective. The CSI's job is to look for potential forensic evidence, and record or remove items for examination.

CCTV

This can be immensely useful in establishing what has happened and who has done it. CCTV recorded from street cameras is routinely kept for 31 days so as to be available to a police officer investigating an offence. If incriminating evidence is then found, that cctv footage can be preserved for use at trial. If you have internal CCTV, check this as soon as possible for any footage covering the incident. It doesn't have to show everything. Even if there is no face visible, because the offender has a hoodie or mask or the premises are in darkness, it may be possible to see how many people were involved and what they did, and possibly what sort of clothing they had on. It is important that you keep this cctv intact. If it is on videotape, remove the tape and label it. If it is on a hard drive, if possible download a copy, and mark the box, eg "ABC Stores, burglary 3 February 2009", so that the investigating officer can take it for examination and comparison with any other images.

EXHIBITS

Any object that may prove that an offence has been committed or may prove who committed the offence is relevant to an investigation, and the police may need to take it or arrange with you for it to be kept secure. This becomes an exhibit, and to avoid confusion will be given a unique reference, which will identify the witness who produces the exhibit at trial. So: if Harry Smith has found a jemmy, that may well be exhibit HS1. If he later found a bag which is relevant to the case, that would be HS2. And so on. One consequence of this is that you may lose some stock or equipment because it is an exhibit. You will need to keep contact with the investigating officer so that it is kept for as little time as possible, but the police (and Crown Prosecution Service) have to ensure that evidence is available for production at a trial and not lost - this is part of a defendant's right to a fair trial, and though it may be irksome, it may be unavoidable.

WITNESS

Any person who can tell a court something that may prove that an offence has been committed or may prove who committed the offence is a witness of fact, and as such may be asked initially to tell the investigating officer what he or she knows, and later to make a written witness statement. If you came upon the offence being committed, and saw or heard something, such as the clothing worn by the offender, or a name called out by someone, or saw the registration number of a vehicle, it is best practice to write that down as soon as you can. The note, even on the back of an envelope, is a "contemporaneous note". If it is written down when the information is clear in your mind, it can be strong evidence of the truth of the information. It also ensures consistency between what a witness says at the time and what he or she later says in court.

CLEAR UP

Once the police give the OK, you can make good the damage. Be alert to the risk of any blood or saliva. If you find anything new while clearing up, let the CSI or investigating officer know.

LOSS

Keep a record of the cost of the incident to your business. If an offender is caught and admits the offence, and has little or no previous record, he or she may be given a conditional caution, which can involve a requirement to pay compensation. If an offender is convicted of an offence, for instance criminal damage or burglary, the court which imposes the sentence on him or her can order the offender to pay compensation. (In either case the compensation is collected through the court and forwarded, a slow process sometimes, but one that avoids contact between you and the offender.) It is therefore important to have a complete calculation of all the loss flowing from the incident. In the case of a burglary, this could be:

· The cost of immediately securing the point of entry - glaziers or locksmith

· The cost of full re-instatement of the point of entry

· Turn-out in the night - consider the cost at an hourly rate.

· Loss of stock

· Loss of trade while the business was partly or fully closed

· Loss of no claims discount on insurance

You can't add in the cost of any extra security later installed.

The fact that an offender is caught does not guarantee that you will receive compensation. A court must take into account the means of the offender - even though it does not take into account the ability of the victim to make good the loss. The reason for this rule is that if an offender with very little means was ordered to pay a large amount of compensation, it might prompt him or her to commit further offences in order to raise the money needed.

IMPACT STATEMENT

If a case goes to court the prosecutor will tell the court what he or she knows about the offence and the impact on the victim. In a witness statement or even a letter to the police, you can set out both what you feel about the offence and what loss you have suffered.