Golden Mile jewellers strike back

Stores fitting Smoke Screens following series of robberies 

Following on from their recent anti-raid successes, Concept Smoke Screen have been demonstrating their security smoke technology on Leicester’s Golden Mile. One particular presentation at Bipin's Jewellers, themselves victims of a fast and violent raid in 2009, attracted the attention of local Police and the BBC who were filming for a security article which aired on East Midlands Today. 

There have been seven attacks on Belgrave Road this year alone, two of them on stores with Smoke Screens fitted, one daytime raid and one burglary. Both of these were stopped by the system activating, rapidly filling the stores with dense fog, confronting the intruders and forcing them out empty-handed, the daytime raiders even left their getaway car behind. 

Sergeant Sarah Widdowson, from Belgrave Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "when the device goes off it absolutely fills the shop - you cannot see anything. We are already carrying out more patrols in the area to deter raids, but this is another thing businesses can do to protect themselves. We have seen they are effective. We want would-be offenders to know that if they target Leicester jewellers, the chances are that they will get nothing.' 

She added that the police have also opened a new office within the Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre, and they have held regular meetings with traders to offer crime prevention advice and listen to their concerns. 

Romil Patani, a spokesman for the jewellers, said many of the shops were using Smoke Screens, “when it goes off, you can see no more than an inch in front of you. It should be a good deterrent, if they can prevent tens of thousands of pounds of jewellery being stolen it is worth it. All the shops have been upgrading their security – we are working with the police, and the police are working with us.” Here is a video demonstration.

Jitendra Vaitha, of Bipin's Jewellers, said people were fed up of being targetted by criminals, 'we want to show thieves that this is a no-go area, that we are not a soft touch and that we are not just sitting around waiting for them to come and take our stuff. These Smoke Screens seem like something from a James Bond film, but they will definitely help.' 

Watch the full report here.

Can't see it? Can't steal it!