Secured By Design – Designing Out Crime!
How many people have heard of the Secured By Design Scheme?
More to the point, how many of us know what it does?
I’m guessing not many – and that needs to change! Not only in the fight against tool theft and van crime, but also in reducing the number of companies springing up to try and ‘cash in’ on trades desperate to protect their tools and vehicles. I spoke to Julian Hurst who works within the Secured By Design Scheme, to find out more about what they do.
Secured by Design: Making it our business to reduce crime
Secured by Design (SBD) is the national police crime prevention initiative. It is part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, a police owned organisation that works on behalf of Police & Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and demand reduction initiatives across the UK.
We work in partnership with the Home Office, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, manufacturers, trade and business organisations, testing houses, certification bodies and standards authorities and many others, to produce a range of world-renowned design guides aimed at reducing crime.
Membership with us is the only way for companies to obtain police accreditation for such products in the UK. Our membership recognises that products not only have been tested to relevant security standards but also fully certified by an independent third-party certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
Companies that achieve our ‘Police Preferred Specification’ can become an SBD member company and use our coveted logo for sales and marketing purposes. Police forces can recommend SBD accredited products and signpost members of the public to the list of SBD member companies and products on our website www.securedbydesign.com, where all our 800 plus member companies and their many thousands of products are listed.
More specifically, the Scheme has a dedicated VEHICLE CRIME area with tips on how to protect your vehicle. There is also the PARK MARK SCHEME which lists car parks registered under the scheme as providing safe car parking facilities, following rigorous assessments by specially trained police assessors.
The Secured By Design Website also has an Accredited Product Search which lists all the products that have ‘Police Preferred Specification’ status, meaning they have been rigorously tested and meet the high standards of the scheme.
Van and tool crime continues to affect us all, rather than waiting until you are targeted, protect your livelihood now, do your homework, buy products that will give you the best protection!