ASSOCIATIONS & ORGANISATIONS
What is Secured by Design and what does it do ?
» SECURED BY DESIGN , OR SBD AS IT is commonly referred to , is the official police security initiative working with the specific aim of reducing crime and helping people live more safely . It is one of a number of crime prevention and demand reduction initiatives run by Police Crime Prevention Initiatives ( Police CPI ) across the UK . Police CPI is a police owned organisation which has a Governance Board which includes senior police representation from all four UK Nations , including the NPCC lead for Crime Prevention . Police CPI ’ s chair is Chief Constable Martin Hewitt QPM , Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council .
SBD have many partner organisations , ranging from the Home Office , Ministry of Housing , Communities & Local Government through to local authorities , housing associations , developers and manufacturers and work closely with standards and certification bodies .
When looking at products for crime prevention purposes it is important to understand the relevance of physical security standards , as they can make a real difference to how a product performs and ultimately how secure a home , vehicle or business can be . SBD operates an accreditation scheme on behalf of the UK Police Service for products or services that have met recognised security standards . These products or services – which must be capable of deterring or preventing crime - are known as being of a ‘ Police Preferred Specification ’.
The Police Preferred Specification scheme has been operating for over 20 years . It requires that a security product meets or exceeds the performance expectations as documented within the relevant security standard for that type of product . It ensures that the product is sufficiently robust to resist physical attack by casual and opportunistic criminals . The SBD focus is on the critical factors that combine to deliver a product ’ s performance - design , use , quality control and the ability to deter or prevent crime .
Police Preferred Specification ensures that products have been independently tested to a relevant security standard and fully certified by an independent third-party , United Kingdom Accreditation Service ( UKAS ) certification body , or tested and certified by an approved body such as Sold Secure or Thatcham . Indeed SBD instigated the formation of the UK Test House Studies Group and Certification Bodies Group for door , window and lock products and have chaired these groups for almost 20 years with the sole aim being to ensure there is parity between test and certification bodies . Police Preferred Specification requires regular re-testing and annual inspection of the manufacturing facility to ensure quality and performance are maintained ( by a UKAS body ). This provides assurance that products have been produced under a controlled manufacturing environment in accordance with the specifier ’ s aims and minimises misrepresentation of the products by unscrupulous manufacturers / suppliers . Better quality means these products last longer too , making them more cost effective and leading to greater sustainability in crime prevention .
The SBD website www . securedbydesign . com contains details of the many hundreds of companies who produce over 7000
individual attack resistant crime prevention products in more than 30 different categories that have met the exacting Police Preferred Specification . This includes doors , windows , external storage , bicycle and motorcycle security , locks and hardware , asset marking , alarms , CCTV , safes , perimeter security products and many others . All of the companies have their full website and contact information listed , as well as a detailed list of all of the SBD accredited products which they provide .
SBD is the only way for companies to obtain police recognition for security-related products in the UK . The key benefits of SBD membership include :
• The police service signposts customers looking for security products to the SBD website where a comprehensive list of companies that produce products that meet SBD ’ s Police Preferred Specification can be found
• Privileged access to the member ’ s hub area of the SBD website , which contains a range of resources which will support and benefit businesses
• Access to SBD events nationwide , including ATLAS the National Training Event for police Designing Out Crime Officers
• Opportunities in other areas of crime prevention and community safety , as SBD is one part of a larger group of nine successful , innovative and groundbreaking initiatives proven to reduce crime
www . securedbydesign . com
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