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Sound the alarm
Burglar alarms are perhaps the most obvious means of burglar protection.
The silent central-station alarm gives the best protection. This type goes off at a private protection agency or in the local police station, unknown to the burglar who continues working, reassured by the quiet.
The cheaper building-type local alarm system - which wakes the entire neighborhood and alerts the burglar, as well - is preferable to no alarm at all. At least it may scare off the thief before he's completed the job.
Alarm sensing devices are available in considerable variety, from radar motion detectors and invisible beams to an automatic phone dialer which efficiently calls both the police and the business owner.
Put burglars in the spotlight
Providing a lot of light, both inside and outside, usually is effective. Have each entrance point, including windows and large vents, flooded with light will discourage all but the most highly motivated burglar and will force any burglar to work quickly. Mercury and metallic vapor lamps serve well since they are almost unbreakable.
It's advisable to arrange indoor lighting so anyone on the inside can be spotted by police patrolling the area. It's best that window displays not block the view from the street.
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Make safes safer
No matter the weight or shape, safes can be bolted to the building and placed near the front of the store so they'll be visible from the street at night. Since burglars can't take what isn't there, prudent managers will leave the safe as empty as possible banking excess cash at night. It's also a good idea to equip safes with silent alarms.
Use gratings, special glass
Heavy metal window screens and doorway gratings are an inexpensive way to protect display cases.
Burglar-resistant glass, a sandwich of plastic between two sheets of glass, thwarts access to displays and the building itself. It can be broken, but it takes continual hammering to break it.
Don't forget the obvious
All these hints can help prevent burglaries, but common sense precautions must also be used. For instance, having all the windows barred will be useless if a transom is left open or an employee is careless with his or her keys.
Only by applying all these prevention techniques can the business owner be assured the thief's profits don't become the owner's loss.
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