Crime Prevention for your Nursery

As the Christmas Holiday is nearly upon us and it is likely that many nurseries will be left unattended, this is a suitable time to consider if you are doing everything possible to avoid your nursery becoming a victim of crime.  Any crimes committed against the nursery are likely to have a financial impact due to the costs of replacing valuable items, making good any losses, and making repairs to the premises. Crime can also impinge on the reputation of the nursery, as many crimes will lead to a disruption in its daily operations. 

Preventing unauthorised access to the nursery premises

In addition to controlling access to children, preventing unauthorised access to the premises is a key component to preventing crime.

The nursery site requires a secure boundary fence to prevent people entering grounds of the premises. Ideally, it is recommended that the fence be of either palisade or weldmesh type, and around two metres high. This is to prevent people from climbing over the fence, but to make it still possible for people to see into the site, which is a deterrent to potential criminals.

To further prevent unauthorised access it is recommended that the number of gateways into the premises is limited. The gateway should be of a similar construction to the site fencing, and securely locked when not in use.

There should only be one main entrance into the building, which should be strictly controlled by a staff member. Suitable signage should indicate the location of the main entrance to give no justification for any unauthorised person to wander around the grounds of the premises.

Natural surveillance 

Natural surveillance is the ability to naturally overlook an area. Natural surveillance is a factor in crime prevention as criminals do not like to be seen when committing criminal acts. Care should be taken when planning the premises so that natural surveillance of the nursery buildings and grounds are maximised by avoiding obstructing views within the site and causing hidden areas. For example, to maintain natural surveillance of the nursery premises overgrown areas of planting and shrubbery will need to be cut down. 

In the hours of darkness, the premises should be sufficiently lit so that it is not possible for criminals to work under the cover of darkness.

The grounds of the premises

Consideration should be given to the grounds of the nursery premises. Playground equipment should be positioned away from the building so that it is not possible to use it to climb onto the roof of the premises. It should also be fireproof to avoid the risk of arson. Litterbins should be securely stored away from the building, again to risk the potential for arson.

The nursery building

The structure of the nursery's external doors should be solid. If the door does contain glass panels they should be reinforced glass panels preventing them from being broken to gain access to the premises.

To reduce the potential of risk of arson the nursery letterbox should discharge into a secure fireproof chamber.

The external windows of the premises should be lockable. Windows that are hidden from view are more vulnerable to being attacked and should be given special consideration. Such windows should be afforded further protection by using reinforced glass, shutters, or bars.

Roof lighting also poses a crime risk if it is located on a roof to which easy access can be gained. If a roof light is easily accessible then it should be protected by adding an internal mesh or grill to prevent unauthorised entry via that means.

Crime opportunities can arise from the failure of people using the building to properly secure all of the external doors and windows of the premises at the end of the day. It is imperative that a person is designated to ensure that all of the external doors and windows are secured at the end of each working day.

The nursery should have a key holder policy. A record should be kept of any keys issued by the nursery and the return of any such keys.

The management of valuable items

It is necessary to manage valuable items belonging to the nursery. Valuable items such as computers should not be kept in view near to windows. All valuable items owned by the nursery should be permanently marked with the details of the nursery. An inventory of valuable items owned by the nursery should be maintained. This should include a detailed description of the item including its serial number. These details are likely to be required by the police and your insurance company should the item ever be reported lost or stolen.

Cash handling

The nursery should implement a cash handling policy. Cash handling should be designated to one person. A clear system needs to be introduced recording all payments received and the removal of any cash in the form of petty cash.

Any cash received should be stored in a secure lockable container, ideally a safe or metal cash box, to which only the designated cash handler has access. To prevent any person removing the cash container it should be located in part of the building to which there is limited access. Ideally, it should also be firmly fixed to the fabric of the building.

Cash should not remain on the premises overnight and should be banked daily.

Nursery databases

It is likely that the nursery will store a reasonable amount of information that the nursery relies on to operate, such as pupil and staff records, financial information, and marketing material. Due to the legal requirements of the Data Protection Act, which will be discussed in detail later in this guide, it is essential that these records are held securely so that unauthorised people do not access them.

In many instances, nursery databases will be computerised. Computers are high value goods and very attractive to thieves. The theft of a computer and losing this type of information is likely to have an impact on the nursery as replacing it is likely to be time consuming. It is therefore essential that the nursery has a backup of any databases that it holds.

Information databases can be backed-up in many different ways, such as by using flash drives, external drives, or compact disc. However, the potential danger of using such devices is that they too may be stolen or lost.

It is strongly recommended that the nursery invests in an online storage data vault. The advantages of online data storage is that the nursery databases are easily backed-up and that a copy of the nursery’s data is held securely off the premises.

Intruder alarms

To deter burglaries at the nursery premises an intruder alarm should be considered. In most instances, the cheapest type of intruder alarm to install in a nursery premises will be an audible only alarm that is not monitored by a monitoring centre. However, the police have a national policy of only attending to audible intruder alarms that are not connected to an authorised monitoring centre when additional information has been received that may indicate that a crime is in progress. This type of alarm may be of some limited deterrence to some criminals. However, the lack of a guaranteed police response may allow a criminal to burgle the premises without being interrupted, so this type of intruder alarm does have some serious limitations in preventing the nursery from becoming a victim of crime.

The obvious benefit of an intruder alarm that is connected to an authorised monitoring station is that if the intruder alarm is activated it leads to a police response.

Care must be taken when purchasing an intruder alarm if a police response is required. Intruder alarms will only receive a police response when they have met strict criteria. The intruder alarm must be of the correct standard, it must be installed, and then maintained, by an authorised installation company to a set standard, and the alarm must be monitored by a monitoring station that meets the required police standards.

If the nursery chooses to install an intruder alarm that is monitored by a monitoring station it must be remembered that in addition to the costs of installing the intruder alarm system, further annual or monthly costs will be incurred as the alarm system will have to be maintained to a set standard. Furthermore, the monitoring company will charge a fee for their monitoring services.

Additionally, the nursery will have to ensure that they can provide the details of two key holders who can be notified if the intruder alarm is activated. It is a police requirement that one of the key holders must be able to attend at the premises within twenty minutes of the alarm being activated. Failure to meet this requirement on a number of occasions will result in the police response being removed.

The nursery will also have to adopt working procedures to ensure that the alarm is not falsely activated. If the police attend the premises due to false alarm activations, initially the speed of the police response to the alarm will be downgraded, and if the problem persist, the police may completely withdraw their response.

If the nursery is considering purchasing and installing an intruder alarm that is to receive a police response it is recommended that the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Security Systems Policy is consulted. Additional advice can also be sought from your local police force’s alarms administrator.

The ACPO Security Systems Policy is available on the Secured by Design website:
http://www.securedbydesign.com/security-systems/index.aspx

The contact details for your local police force can be found on the police UK website: http://www.police.uk

CCTV systems

A recording CCTV system assists in monitoring people on the premises. The quality of CCTV systems greatly varies and professional advice should be sought regarding the type of system that is most suitable for your nursery. Ideally, to be totally effective the CCTV camera plan should be designed so that it covers all areas of the premises. The cameras should be positioned so that they are not vulnerable to being moved or attacked. The location where the CCTV images are stored should be secure so that criminals do not have the opportunity to remove any images captured of them.

It is important that the footage that the CCTV system provides is suitable to be used in evidence in court if the nursery is unfortunate enough to become a victim of crime. The CCTV footage will have to be of sufficient quality so that it is possible to identify any offenders. It is also important that the footage contains on it the correct time and date.

If CCTV footage is to be used in court as evidence it is also important that it is handled correctly. If the CCTV footage is stored on removable media such as a video cassette, or a DVD a written record should be kept regarding who placed the media into the CCTV system, and who removed it.

Alternatively, if the CCTV footage is stored on a hard drive it is important to maintain a record as to who copied it on to a removable format such as a DVD.

The CCTV system must also be used in such a manner so as to comply with the Data Protection Act. The reason for this is that footage that identifies a person is defined as data under the Data Protection Act.

DaC Childcare offers a full range of courses to suit the needs of every students from beginners starting their childcare career to supervisors and managers of nursery and early years childcare settings.

If you require crime prevention and risk assessment advice, our partner company, DaC & Partners has a long proven history of providing this type of advice to a variety of companies.