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Commercial Robbery Prevention
Tips
Things to do to prevent a robbery:
- Keep your front doors
and windows clear or signs and posters to allow good, two way
visibility. Employees can see suspicious persons outside. Passers-by
can see inside.
- Keep the outside
of your business well lit at night.
- Make sure your cash
register area is clearly visible to outside observers.
- Keep your business
looking neat and clean. A clean environment is not only good for
business but uncomfortable to robbers.
- Practice good cash
control. Keep a minimum amount of cash in your cash drawer and
make regular drops to safe.
- Make bank deposits
as often as possible, never less than once a day.
- Use video camera
surveillance and make it well known.
- Use cameras or mirrors
to observe all areas of the store.
- Be alert for "customers"
who seem to be loitering or glancing around the store while appearing
to shop or browse through a magazine.
- If you see someone
who is acting suspicious inside or outside, call the police to
have them checked out.
- Keep side and back
doors locked. have employees use the main entrance, if possible.
- Greet everyone who
enters your business.
- Place markers at
the entrance that employees can use to help gauge the height of
a robber as he leaves.
Things to remember during
a robbery:
- Try to stay calm.
Don't make any sudden movements to upset the robber.
- Do exactly as you
are told. DO NOT RESIST.
- Activate your alarm
ONLY if you can do so secretly.
- Tell the robber about
anything that might surprise him, such as someone who is expected
to arrive soon.
- If you have to move
or reach, tell the robber what you are going to do and why.
- The longer a robbery
takes the more nervous the robber is, so try keep it short. The
average robbery takes about 2 minutes.
- Try to get a good
look at the robber so you can describe him later.
- Note his direction
of travel when he leaves.
- Try to get a description
of his vehicle ONLY if you can do so without exposing yourself
to harm.
Things to do after a
robbery:
- Call the police immediately,
even if you have already activated thealarm.
- Close the store and
lock the doors if you have a key.
- Ask any witnesses
to stay until the police arrive. If they can't, get their names,
phone numbers, and addresses.
- Do not touch anything
that the robber may have touched. Block off areas where the robber
was, if necessary.
- Step outside the
store when the police arrive so they'll know the robber is gone
and you are safe.
- Do not discuss the
amount of money taken with anyone other than the police.
Surveillance equipment
information:
- Reusing VHS videotapes
diminishes the clarity of the images that you record. For best
image clarity, replace tapes every 12 sessions.
- A good method for
replacing tapes is to use 31 tapes, one for each day of the month
and replace them annually.
- Never use the pause
button on your VCR, this can destroy the image and stretch the
tape.
- Avoid playing a tape
over and over again after a robbery.
- Clean the lenses
of the video cameras in your establishment. Use camera lens paper
to remove dust that tends to build up there.
- Have a security technician
position the cameras to capture the best images of the perpetrators.
- Insure that the correct
date and time appear on your video camera, and that they are recorded
on the tape. (Remember "Spring forward, Fall back")
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