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The Herald, January 14, 2004

FIVE robbers broke into City Furniture and Electrical shop in Harare early Monday morning and stole goods worth more than $36 million. The goods stolen include two 21-inch colour televisions, one 29-inch colour television, and two video cassette recorders, all worth $36,8 million.

It is alleged that the five robbers who were driving a white Mazda 323 with no registration numbers, went and broke into the shop at around 2am.

They used an object to break a window to gain entry into the shop and looted the goods.

According to a security guard who was manning premises near the shop, he heard a sound coming out from the shop and went out to investigate.

“That’s when I saw five people, who were wearing masks, getting into the getaway vehicle,” he said.

He said the car had no registration numbers. The security guard who declined to be named said that he later saw that the window of the shop had been broken.

“I did not know that they (robbers) had already stolen goods in the shop,” he said.

“All I did was to keep an eye on the broken window, until the shop officials came at around 7am.”

The shop officials were later alerted and a report was made to the police. No arrests have been made and police are still investigating the case.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

• Shops and companies should invest in robust security systems such as alarms and video surveillance cameras to ward off robbers and burglars.
• The technology of commercial security systems has come a long way from old-fashioned blaring alarms.
• Now you can have security monitoring any part of your business, every hour, day and night.
• Investing in IP video surveillance cameras as a solution to your security needs provides numerous long-term benefits such as reduced retail shrinkage, maximised store profits, lowered insurance rates, and ultimately a decrease in the number of theft cases.
• Alarm systems are one of the most common security systems used on business premises, and they help in alerting any unauthorised entry and related attempts.
• Closed-circuit television (CCTV) or video surveillance is also widely used by companies and homesteads for security purposes.