Huge drop in industrial estate crime

CRIME in Shannon’s industrial estates has experienced a huge drop since the establishment of Shannon Business Watch, while the value of goods stolen dropped by €100,000 last year.
A letter from the Gardai and Shannon Business Watch to last week’s town council meeting sought funding for CCTV and outlined some of the benefits that have accrued since the establishment of Business Watch.
“Business Watch is a crime prevention programme designed by An Garda Siochána and was established in Shannon in 2009. It is founded on the same principles as Neighbourhood Watch and Community Alert which is the practice of the Gardai and the community coming together to prevent and reduce crime, the only difference being that the community which this scheme targets is the business community.
“The Business Watch Schemes in Shannon has been widely recognised by garda authorities as being one of the best practice examples of Business Watch in the country and the benefits of this can be seen in a crime reduction of 60% in the industrial estates since its foundation with the value of goods stolen in 2011 down to €20,000 as opposed to €120,000 in 2010. This reduction in crime would not have been possible without the establishment of An Garda Siochána Business Watch which has provided the framework whereby the Business Community and the Gardai join together and continue to be instrumental in preventing crime in the Industrial Estates.”
It stated that the type of crime that takes place is for the most part theft and burglaries of items such as copper, aluminium and brass, while it claimed that a burglary has the potential to destroy a business.
Installing CCTV would make a further impact, it was claimed. “One of the projects Business Watch undertook from the outset to counteract this type of crime was the proposal to install a CCTV system at all the entrance and exit points to Shannon Free Zone West and Smithstown/Free Zone East. This was widely called for and supported by the business community and especially by those who had fallen victim to crime. High quality CCTV would greatly enhance the ability of the Gardai to investigate and stamp out this type of crime. The benefits of a high quality CCTV system cannot be emphasised enough, it acts both as a deterrent to would be criminals and is an invaluable asset in crime investigation especially in an industrial area such as Free Zone West and Smithstown.”
The letter said that at a meeting it was proposed that the town council be approached for assistance, and it described the body as “a collector of rates from businesses in the industrial estates”.
However at the meeting several of the members pointed out that the town council does not collect rates and it was suggested that the letter would be better directed to Clare County Council, the body which actually does collect the rates.