Tuesday 17 January 2012

It Might Not Be The Shutters At Fault...

In a desperate bid to avoid pointing fingers at the elephants in the room, Croydon Council is reconsidering it's objections to....security shutters.

Yes, really:
The review has been prompted by the extensive damage caused to shops during the riots on August 8 last year.

Current policy favours see-through shutters placed either inside or outside shop windows.

However, many shopkeepers believe heavy metal grilles, which are seen as an eyesore, would have kept windows intact and protected their businesses from being looted.
Now, yes, we've been here before, Colchester Council being another that would rather their streets look 'aesthetically pleasing' than shopkeepers' premises were protected.

And certainly, the council seems to have some evidence for their potential u-turn:
While neighbouring stores such as Argos were gutted, Hewitts of Croydon, in Church Street, suffered no damage because looters were unable to break through the shop's security panels.

Manager Martin Hewitt said: "Luckily they didn't manage to get through the heavy-duty shutters we have outside the shop.

"They were kicking and smashing them but they couldn't get in.

"We had the shutters put in because people kept breaking our windows on Friday and Saturday nights.

"Our security seemed to have worked, so we were very lucky in that respect."
However, in the comments, it's suggested that they might not have been trying too hard anyway:
The_Third_Eye
"While neighbouring stores such as Argos were gutted, Hewitts of Croydon, in Church Street, suffered no damage because looters were unable to break through the shop's security panels."

Of course Hewitts was left alone they sell school uniform, whereas Argos sells FlatScreens, Laptops, Mobile phones and other high end electricals.”
Hmmm....

7 comments:

Tattyfalarr said...

To protect shops and homes from thieves we need to put in place a system whereby potential thieves are made aware that it would be wrong then if and when they decide to do the wrong thing they can be identified and detained, made fully aware that they got found out and how then taken off to a place they cannot escape from for a set period of time to ensure they cannot do it again anytime soon.

Oh.. wait...

Anonymous said...

Si = f(Gd - PRt)

The above function of shop grille resistance, minus police radiator time, defines regional shop security for insurance purposes.

jaded said...

Ah yes Melvin,the R word.
You are getting beyond parody.

Captain Haddock said...

Just what is it with these council wonks ?

Who the hell (besides them) cares how 'aesthetically pleasing' a high street looks, after all the shops have shut ?

We're talking about the livelihoods of people here .. both the business owners & the employees .. who have a perfect right to take all legal steps to protect their property .. and who have every right to expect that their place of work will still be there & intact next morning ..

And if 'aesthetically pleasing' is all councillors have to worry about, then I would suggest that they're taking their pay under false pretences .. and should be held personally responsible for their decision making ..

NickM said...

Now no shop during trading hours has the shutters down. So the argument as to the uglification of the streets fails because who cares after close of trading?

NB. Perhaps we're being harsh on the rioters if they were trying to break into a shop selling school uniforms. See how much these poor misunderstood youths craved education ;-)Either that or they were bloody stupid. I mean, me, I'd be gittin' meself an iPad or three!!!

jaded said...

I bet the job centre didn't get looted.

JuliaM said...

"Just what is it with these council wonks ?"

They are little people with little corners of 'responsibility' and they are too scared to step outside them. Or even LOOK outside them!

"Now no shop during trading hours has the shutters down. So the argument as to the uglification of the streets fails because who cares after close of trading?"

Quite!