Posts Tagged ‘Drywall’

Drywall Burglaries

In Overland Park near Kansas City, Missouri, it seems they are having a problem with a rash of “drywall” commercial burglaries.  Apparently, there have been five such robberies in the past six weeks.  Overland Park Chief of Police John Douglas writes about it in his “Just the Facts” blog.

What’s a “drywall” burglary?  This term describes how a criminal enters a business from another business.  Here’s how it’s done.  The thief finds a vacant business that shares a common wall with an active business.  This is common in strip mall style buildings.  The burglar then enters the vacant store cuts through the plaster board or “drywall” big enough to gain access to the active business.  Once inside the thief usually goes undetected and can work to steal whatever the target item is inside.  Some safes have even been broken into.

In the last six weeks five Overland Park stores have been entered in this manner with significant losses report.  The crimes occur overnight and are not discovered until the following morning.  Other cities in the metropolitan area have experienced this same style of burglary and it is most likely the same burglars are responsible for all the crimes.

It’s important that if you own any type of retail store you should have a complete security system equipped with motion detectors.  These motion detectors are designed to signal the control panel and hence sound an alarm once movement is detected throughout a protected room.