Article
Prevent robbery
Criminals could be staking out your store right now. So what are you going to do about it?
April 30, 2006
QSR crime stories are as plentiful as the stores themselves, and they can be read in local papers from coast to coast.
In Houston, two separate robbery sprees targeting QSRs had police scrambling in 2004. One was the work of the "fast-food bandit," as local media dubbed him. The man robbed 15 fast-food restaurants, including branches of Wendy's, Taco Bell, CiCi's Pizza, Subway and McDonald's.
The other spree included 23 taco stands and two nonfatal shootings of robbery victims.
That same year, six armed robberies took place at Subway restaurants in New York during a four-day stretch in July, earning the perpetrator the media nickname "Subway bandit."
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"Whenever you have an operation that's open late at night or 24 hours a day, that has a lot of customer foot traffic through the store, and where there's cash available, you're going to find higher crime potential at those locations," said Robert Figlio, Ph.D., chief executive of CAP Index Inc., provider of crime-based risk assessment. "That's the case with many gas stations, convenience stores and quick-serve restaurants."
Chris McGoey, president of Los Angeles-based McGoey Security Consulting, agrees with Figlio, but said QSRs are attractive because they are easy to escape.
"Criminals want to get the money and get away. QSRs fit the bill perfectly," McGoey said.
Most fast-food chains have developed a standard menu of security hardware and equipment for all stores. These include video surveillance systems, alarm systems, time-delay safes and robbery-prevention training.
Good Times, based in Golden, Co., takes such training seriously. "We have a detailed security policy in place," said Gary Staton, director of training. "Crime prevention is one of 22 processes that all employees at our 44 units are trained on."
Key points of Good Times' policy include not taking out trash after dusk, daylight bank runs and checking through the windows for suspicious behavior in the parking lot before leaving the building at night. A key pad located at the back door of Good Times restaurants prompts the incoming manager to key in his combination, de-activating the alarm system. The closing manager keys in his combination to re-activate the alarm.
"Frequent cash drops from the registers are also required," Staton said. "Our employees are also trained to use their headsets to keep in contact with each other, especially at night. If someone sees something suspicious, the others will know."
Don't fall into routines
Experts caution operators to avoid adopting a one-size-fits-all crime-prevention policy for all locations. The level of security varies depending on the nature of a particular restaurant, its crime demographics, and location. According to McGoey, as the risk of a store increases so should the level of crime-prevention measures and attention to detail with maintenance items, store security surveys and cash audits.
-- Robert Figlio Ph.D., chief executive of CAP Index Inc |
It's important that a thorough risk assessment and management policy be set in place, codified and periodically reviewed
The National Restaurant Association sponsors a "Robbery Prevention and Awareness" video, which advises operators to establish clear sight lines into the store and positioning the cash register in a prominent place. Doing so makes a thief's actions more noticeable to the outside world. The video also suggests the following in a training program in the case of robbery:
--Never fight back. Instruct employees to give criminals what they want. Workers should inform robbers that they are complying with their demands.
--Be a star witness. Advise workers to remember the criminals' appearance so they can later tell police.
McGoey said another way to decrease robberies is to do background checks on employees. He said many robberies are "inside jobs" committed by disgruntled former or current employees.
"They (employees) can see how much cash really is on hand, how accessible the money is in the safe, if the alarm system is lacking or absent, if there's any video system. They know exactly how to penetrate a business," McGoey said.
Training employees is another measure to prevent crime, Figlio said. One such effective measure is proper closing techniques, such as multi-worker closings and leaving the building in staggered fashion to prevent
criminals from accosting the group and forcing everyone back inside. Other measures include setting a time when trash is taken out (i.e., never after a certain nighttime hour) and having operable lights and surveillance systems.
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"It's important that a thorough risk assessment and management policy be set in place, codified and periodically reviewed," Figlio said. "And that starts with site selection, not only from the point of view of market potential, but with the risks associated with the site in mind as well. Yes, any market is a potential market, but it should be approached in light of how well that location is prepared for its particular risk."
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