Having your home broken into can be frightening enough, but what about when thieves have forced their way into your business? It's a violation, it's unsettling, and it can affect your ability to earn an income (not to mention the people who work for you). It's vital to approach the situation in the right way to ensure that the matter is properly dealt with, allowing you to get back to business as usual as quickly as possible.
Contact the Police
The moment you walk into your business and notice the break-in, you should call the police. You might be advised to wait outside until an officer attends the scene, and this is a smart course of action. In case a forensic investigation (such as fingerprint analysis) is ordered, you don't want to potentially contaminate any evidence. You might be able to perform a quick visual assessment while you're inside, but be careful not to touch anything. You can perform a more thorough inspection of your business once the police arrive, so be sure to follow their instructions.
Contact Your Insurer
Before you begin the cleanup, and once the police have given you the green light to re-enter your premises, it's wise to document everything. This involves taking photographs of any damage, and your phone camera will suffice for this job. It's important to document the extent of the damage for the purposes of your insurance claim.
Security Footage
If you have security cameras installed, the police will ask for this footage. If it's held on a local storage device, make a copy to give to the police. You will also need to provide a copy to your insurance company, and you should retain the master copy for your own records, in case it needs to be reviewed in the future.
Secure the Premises
Next, you need to secure your premises. If the point of entry was obvious (such as a broken window), then this will need to be made safe. Your doors will also need to be secured, so call a locksmith. Even if the door wasn't their point of entry, it might have been the focus of the first attempt, and it cannot be ruled out that the lock was tampered with. A locksmith who provides commercial lock repair services can assess this for you and repair the lock as needed. For extra surety, you might wish to have the lock replaced with a secondary deadbolt installed if the original lock was breached.
A break-in at your business is upsetting, but it's important to follow a set procedure, allowing you to resume your operations as soon as you can.
Share30 November 2020
Few things are more intimidating than realizing that your belongings are susceptible to being robbed. I realized this truth when we left town for a few weeks and came home to find a completely ransacked home. To prevent future problems, we started combing the market for a great safe that would protect our belongings, and we were able to find one that we felt really good about. After it was installed, we stocked it with all of our most important possessions and worked on putting our best things in it from then on. It was a lot of work, but it really paid off. Check out this blog for more information.