Crime, business and policing on industrial estates

Anyone who commutes by rail will be familiar with the sight of industrial estates — congregations of brick and metal-clad buildings of varying sizes, usually in rows and usually surrounded by a fence. They tend to be short on windows, but to have plenty of yards, lorries and piles of material scattered around. In general they are not scenic. Unlike industrial areas in some countries, they are not infrequently close to housing estates or other residential areas.