The so-called “smash-and-grabs” continue to be a problem in many cities across New York state.

A few business owners looking for ways to protect their properties contacted Lakelands Concrete Products in the town of Lima.

Lakelands manufactures concrete structures from septic tanks to box culverts.

“We have our own batch plant on site, so we mix our own concrete and that’s sort of the beauty of precast is we’re doing everything inside,” said the owner of Lakelands Concrete, Stacy Stevens. “So we’re producing concrete all year long.”

One of the products piquing the interest of some business owners recently is what’s called the bollard. It’s essentially a concrete barrier designed to protect a structure. It’s an option with the recent string of smash-and-grabs – criminals using vehicles to smash into a business' entrance, window or wall to gain access and then steal from the property.

Lakelands Concrete makes the bollards in different shapes and sizes.

“They mix a batch of concrete, we do about two yards per batch, and then they put it into the pour bucket, and we have an overhead crane that moves around to the different forms that we have and then they dump the concrete right into the form," said Stevens.

The team can make short sections, like the type of bollard you’d see along the highway, tall pole-shaped, round or square. After setting for 24 hours, the job is done.

“They flip the form over and you have your finished product," said Stevens.

Could it prevent a smash-and-grab?

“There’s about a thousand pounds of concrete right there,” said Stevens. “So to hit that, knock it over and then for the car to keep moving would be pretty impressive. Like it is definitely meant to deter people from entering a location.”

She and her company aren’t getting inundated with orders, but if the smash-and-grab crime spree continues, they just may.