What to Do After a Business Break-In: A Colorado Springs Locksmith's Checklist

After a business break-in, call the police before you go inside, and do not touch the forced door or anything near it until officers have been through. Then photograph everything, call your insurer with the police report number, and get the door secured and the locks rekeyed the same day, because whoever got in may now have keys, codes or a weak point they already know works. Only after that is it time to fix the reason the door gave way.

Owners have been asking us this more over the last few weeks, and the local news explains why. On September 19 police reported a man forcing his way into a business along Airport Road near Powers, and on September 24 Colorado Springs police announced charges in a string of commercial burglaries from early July, where businesses were forced open over the Fourth of July weekend and thieves tried to haul out ATMs. Here is the order of steps a locksmith would give you, from the first phone call to the lock that stops it happening again.

First Hour: Police, Then Pictures

If the door is open or the glass is broken when you arrive, stay outside. Someone may still be in the building, and anything you handle can smudge evidence the police would want.

1. Call the police. If you think anyone is still inside, call 911. Otherwise call the Colorado Springs Police Department non-emergency line at 719-444-7000. A burglary of a business is not one of the report types CSPD takes online, so expect to talk to an officer. Outside city limits, in Falcon, Black Forest or Security-Widefield for example, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office handles it instead.
2. Write down the report number. Your insurer, your landlord and any bank or card processor will ask for it.
3. Photograph before anything moves. Take wide shots of the door and the frame, then close-ups of pry marks, the bent frame, the lock, the strike and any broken glass. Do the same for the back door, any damaged display case, register or safe.
4. Save the video and the alarm log. Copy the camera footage and the alarm panel history before they record over. The time the alarm went off, or did not, matters to both the police and the insurer.

Same Day: Secure the Door and Rekey the Locks

Once the police release the scene, the building has to be lockable again before anyone goes home. That usually means two separate jobs.

Making the door close and lock

On most Colorado Springs storefronts the front door is an aluminum and glass door with a narrow frame, and the usual attack is a pry bar at the lock edge. The aluminum bends, the latch slips out of the strike, and the door swings open with the lock still turned. A bent door edge often needs the latch and strike reset, and sometimes the door re-hung, before it will lock at all. If glass is out, a board-up or glass company covers the opening, and the locksmith makes sure the door that remains actually locks.

Rekeying everything a key could open

Rekey every cylinder, not just the forced one. Keys hanging in the back office, in a desk drawer or in a stolen register can open the rear door and the office tomorrow night. Rekeying changes the pins inside the existing locks so every old key stops working, which is faster and cheaper than replacing hardware that was not damaged. Our commercial lock rekey service covers the front, the back, offices and storage in one visit, and if the building runs on a master key, the master key system gets re-pinned so the new keys still work the way your staff expect.

The forced door gets the attention. The keys that walked out the back are usually the bigger risk.

Codes and cards count as keys too

Change the alarm codes, the safe combination if a code was written down anywhere on site, and the Wi-Fi password if a router or a computer was touched. If you use keypad or card entry, delete any card or code that cannot be accounted for. Our access control systems work includes that kind of cleanup as well as new installs.

This Week: Fix the Reason It Worked

A rekey stops old keys. It does nothing about a door that can be pried open in seconds. Look at how they got in, and fix that weak point specifically.

• Pried at the lock edge. A steel latch guard over the gap between door and frame takes the pry bar away. On aluminum storefront doors, a hook-bolt deadlock or a longer throw into a reinforced strike holds even when the frame flexes.
• Forced at the back door. Rear steel doors in strip centers are often fitted with a basic lever and nothing else. A deadbolt, a latch guard and long screws into the frame make a large difference. If the back door is a fire exit, the answer is proper panic bar installation with the right exit device, never a chain or a padlock that blocks the way out.
• No marks at all. If nothing was forced, think about who had keys. Restricted keyways that cannot be copied at a hardware store are where high-security locks earn their cost.
• Through the glass. No lock fixes a broken pane. Security film, a roll-down grille or a lockable inner door to the office keeps a smash-and-grab to the front counter.

If You Rent the Space

Many commercial leases put the storefront door and its hardware under the landlord, while the tenant handles their own interior locks, so read yours. Tell the property manager the same day, send them the police report number, and ask in writing who is paying for the door repair. Do not let that wait hold up the rekey, though. Rekeying your own cylinders is a small cost next to a second night with stolen keys in circulation, and the property manager will need new keys either way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I rekey or replace the locks after a business break-in?

Rekey any lock that still works, and replace only the hardware that was bent or broken in the forced entry. Rekeying makes every old key useless and keeps the hardware you already have. Our guide to rekeying versus replacing locks covers the trade-off in more detail, and for a house rather than a business, see lock replacement after a home break-in.

Does business insurance cover the locksmith after a burglary?

Many commercial property policies cover the damage from a forced entry, and some also cover rekeying, but it depends on your policy and your deductible. Ask your agent, and keep the police report number, the photos and the locksmith's itemized invoice together for the claim.

Can I clean up before the police arrive?

No. Leave the door, the lock and anything that was moved exactly as you found them until officers say they are finished. Tools left behind, pry marks and fingerprints are often the only evidence in a business burglary.