More often, authorities suggest leaving our any commercial setting property lights on to have them kept secure. But then, property owners have raised questions many times regarding this issue if it’s really an effective means to prevent burglary. Looking down the street, you will actually notice almost all offices are illuminated and you are left wondering what will make yours a potential burglary target. You can also ask yourself what lighting has to do with maintaining your office secure.
A study from experts shows that chances of anonymity will actually reduce by employing lighting as burglar deterrents. The lights greatly help deter such actions since intruders may develop a fear that they might likely be recognized and even caught when lights are on. But then, does light really help in such cases? The expert study has gone an extent to suggest that property owners with good lighting are said to have community sense of pride, stronger all through and that this light normally prevents burglary simply by acting as an informal social control element. According to data that is produced worldwide all times, most burglary cases happen during the day since this is the time most people are busy carrying moving from place to place to ensure that everything is in order.
There was also another study conducted to prove this, the researchers used burglar responses in this case. A number of burglars were surveyed regarding the method employed by the burglars to make break-ins and motivations to carry out their duties to succeed in their missions. But then, responses didn’t make it clear whether lighting was such a sufficient deterrent. A lot of responses emerged, they were all mixed up regarding lights is a particular commercial setting. Others showed that light was a deterrent in this case. From all the responses that emerged out, there was one that showed that a combination of blinds closed and lights on created such an attractive burglary location. To add on this, burglars will make it knock on the door first before they attempt making their way in; they will also reconsider getting into an office almost all of them in case a car was just at the driveway.
With all these said, it is deduced that an important element to prevent such instances is a person’s presence in a particular office. The burglars normally find it best when no one is around. They like it most since they will work quietly and quickly and they leave before they are noticed. But then, this statement doesn’t mean that light has been thrown out as a deterrent, herein are ways someone can use light as part of a burglary prevention mean;
How to use lights to deter burglars
1. Use of the dusk-to-dawn lights
The photocell is the main component of these security lights. This is actually a transducer that has the capability to measure and detect the amount of light available in a particular commercial setting. These devices are set to recognize certain measurable light amounts, in case this happens, lights will be automatically be switched on. When the sun goes down, this is what actually happens. The lights will be kept on all throughout the night until a certain amount of light is detected.
2. Use lights to mimic real behavior
There is a need to always provide an appearance that your office is occupied at all times. But then, how can this be achieved? It’s simple, lights are set to automatically turn on and off at irregular and normal intervals. Leaving them on throughout the night will not send a message that someone is in, instead, make them turn on and off at irregular intervals to show that there is someone moving around the monitoring all that might be happening.
3. Employ remote control of lights by using smart lighting
Employ smart light bulbs can also be the best way to go about this. These bulbs provide you with the ability to turn them on and off even if you are away from your office. In case it at the airport setting, these lights can be placed at different points and they can be turned on and off at random times in an alternate way, each at different times. These lights can be tied in with video doorbells so that anyone trying to get right to the entrance will think that you are right there at that time.
4. Employ motion sensing lights
They normally illuminate common points of entry and they are bright. They are commonly used in areas such as sports fields, and parking lots. They are sudden lights that can send authorities alert to a presence of unusual happenings around.
Support your lighting strategy using a security system
In a commercial setting, ensuring that all security systems are set right to keep a particular area safe is important regardless of how you choose to use security lightings or how you program lights to keep the area secure. People will rest easy all times knowing that alarms are in place in case of anything even if the lighting strategy lacks the intended impact to curb burglary.
It isn’t such effective burglary prevention mean to leave lights on throughout the day. Leaving lights on all day long will also don’t do much either to the utility bill. Burglary cases can be minimized by proper planning at large.
5. Dual technology motion sensors
To add on all these, employing a dual technology version can be ideal in commercial settings. An alarm is triggered if anything of body heat or motion is detected at set points. But then, the systems only switches lights on if detection of both triggers has taken place, this actually makes them somehow more vulnerable in a way. In the case of expert intruders, there will be no lighting since they might be able to trick both the active and passive detectors.
Conclusion
Lights alone might not be such enough in deterring burglars if protecting a certain property is a top priority. You should greatly consider placing much focus on the basics of preventing such instances before you turn up to invest in fancy and expensive lighting types. You should put in mind some common sense things like for instance ensuring all entryways are closed and have in place a security system that keeps authorities alert in case anything like such occurs. A combination of these can help greatly secure property in any commercial area at large.