Violent crime against businesses has increased fourfold in the past three years and more such attacks are taking place at business people's homes, according to a Small Firms Association survey published yesterday.
Some 12 per cent of respondents said they, their families or employees had been victims of threats or violence, an increase of 9 per cent on a 1996 survey of small firm owners. A third of such victims said they experienced violence outside the business premises, often at home, where keys to premises were sought, or on the streets while cash deliveries to the bank were taking place.
This was particularly alarming, said SFA chairman Mr Kieran Crowley, as it indicated "a movement away from targeting business with a high degree of physical and electronic security towards targeting business people with relatively lower degrees of security in their homes.
Business people are increasingly discovering that they can fortify their place of work but are extremely vulnerable themselves."
The body called for a three-pronged approach to combat the trend: increased detention places, more efficient use of Garda resources and specific measures to tackle violent crime.
The figures mirror official Garda statistics which show a decline in the overall level of crime but an increase in serious and violent crime. Garda statistics for the first six months of this year show a doubling in the number of armed raids in the State but an 8 per cent drop in recorded crimes.
The SFA survey showed a 6 per cent reduction in crime, with a third of respondents reporting that they had been victims in the previous two years. Some 28 per cent, however, said they were victims on more than three occasions in that period, up from just 5 per cent in 1996.
The survey also showed that spending by firms on security had almost doubled from £2,023 in 1996 to £4,005 this year. The proportion of businesses which had installed closed circuit television cameras had risen from 7 per cent to 41 per cent.
"Small business has spent hundreds of millions of pounds on security provisions," said Mr Crowley. "While the overall figures show a slight decrease in the crime rate, the extent, scope and impact of crime has significantly increased."
A total of 347 businesses participated in the survey, which was conducted over the past three months.
