New data from police shows 26 per cent of the premises burgled between April 1 and June 30 had electronic security equipment that was not on or not working, while 88 per cent of construction sites had no electronic security features.
The police data reveals there were 396 burglaries of commercial premises during this time period.
Retail shops were hit in 31 per cent of these burglaries, while other commercial premises came in a close second at 21 per cent.
Detective Senior Sergeant Damon Wells said the central city retail and commercial premises were targeted over the three-month period because there were fewer people around as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions.
Of these burglaries, 69 per cent took place in Christchurch city, while 17 per cent took place in more rural parts of the district, including Selwyn and Banks Peninsula.
The statistics covered other areas including the Mackenzie District, Ashburton, Timaru and Waimate. Fourteen per cent of burglaries occurred in these areas.
The methods used to break into non-residential premises has been simple during this time, with doors being used as entry points 47 per cent of the time.
However, the number of non-residential burglaries between April 1 and June 30 was 39.8 per cent lower compared to January 1 to March 31.
