Art security firm warns thieves have ‘daytime gap’ advantage

Art thieves don’t just strike in dramatic museum raids like the recent smash-and-grab at the Louvre Museum. They also walk out of people’s homes with paintings, jewelry and collectibles in the middle of the day — often while the alarm is off and everyone thinks they’re safe.

The security firm Art Guard, which develops and sells magnetic sensors for safeguarding art, has released its first whitepaper warning of what it calls “opportunities for theft” in both museums and private homes. Among its major findings is a glaring vulnerability: valuable objects are frequently left unprotected even when a property is wired with cameras and alarms, and private collectors are especially exposed.

Bill Anderson, the co-founder of Art Guard, spoke with Urgent Matter about the state of the art-security industry, the findings of his new whitepaper and his thoughts on how institutions and collectors alike can better protect their masterpieces from theft.

Anderson said the company decided to pen the whitepaper after his years of “total frustration” with the market and its lack of recognition of the importance of putting some sort of protective sensors on objects themselves.

“It's kind of astounding to the degree to which people are ignoring what's right in front of their face,” he said. “And that is the need for something that can be easily applied to an object of any value, whether it be a painting or artwork and antiques to jewelry, a bottle of wine or other collectibles.”

The whitepaper, titled Object-Specific Protection: The Untapped Market in Home Security, argues that traditional alarm systems are built to keep intruders out or detect them once they’re inside, while leaving the actual trophies — the art, jewelry and keepsakes — largely unprotected.

It cites estimates that roughly 40% of home burglaries occur during daytime hours, when doors are open, people are moving through the house and perimeter systems are disarmed.

In that “daytime gap,” Anderson said, there is often nothing between a thief and the objects on the wall or the jewelry in the bedroom if someone is already legitimately inside the house or if the perimeter system has been defeated.

“Perimeter intrusion, the rest of the intrusion security, is off a good 16 hours of the day,” he said. “So, those things have to be protected.”