"PROTECTING YOU, YOUR PEOPLE, AND YOUR BUSINESS"
PACIFIC OIL CONFERENCE
GRAND SIERRA RESORT, RENO, NEVADA, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

There is nothing in your store worth losing your life, a family member's life, or an employee's life over.

What they're really looking for is money. They're not going to rob a place if they're only going to get $20.

Cash control includes how you handle money from the time it is given to you. You should have a cash control policy in your company. It should include 'you should never have more than this amount of cash in the register at any time.' If you close your store at night, you should leave the drawer open and the register empty. Everyone can see there is no money in the register.

If you accept large bills, drop them in the safe immediately. Never hide money in a bag, below the register, or anywhere else. Never leave the cash drawer open longer than it takes to complete the transaction and train cashiers to never turn their back on an open register. Never count the register where customers can see it.

There is nothing that is more appetizing to a bad guy than a poorly, dimly lit store. They don't want to be seen. If you have broken lights — or broken anything — it sends a message to a bad guy that you really don't care.

Take the signs out of the window. If a customer — especially women — can't see inside the store, they're not coming in.

The view from the register to the street should be open. You want police to be able to drive by and look inside the store.

Product displays should not be higher than eye level, so everyone can see what is going on.

A well lit, highly visible store deters crimes and increases customer traffic and sales. This is a proven fact.

Most crimes are not done immediately. They're done by someone who walks in the store, looks around, figures out how they can escape, figures out how they can hide, and figures out how much cash you might have. If you greet every customer when they come in the store, ask them if there's something you can help them with — it's a great deterrent. Because they want anonymity. Customer service is a great theft deterrent.

Having a good relationship with the police will help you. I had a store and I would give coffee or water to the officers when they came by. Ask them to include you on the route. If you have a great relationship, if you have to call 911, they will pay attention.

If you see something at your business and it doesn't look right, don't hesitate to call the police. That's what they're there for.

Consider offering store space for a police sub-station or community outreach area. That's a great deterrent.

So what happens if you're being robbed — other than wetting yourself and being afraid. You need to stay calm. You need to make sure there are no surprises. Cooperate. If they ask for money, give them money. If they ask for cigarettes and you have some, give them cigarettes. Don't say, 'I don't have any,' if you're standing in front of a display.

Do not startle a robber. They may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs and easily rattled and they have their hands on a weapon. If there's an employee in the back who might surprise them, let them know. If you're the other employee in the store, don't try to sneak up on them. Don't try to be Bruce Willis in Die Hard. First of all, who is trained in hand-to-hand combat? Who is trained in taking away a weapon?

Never use a weapon. More clerks get hurt using a weapon than not.

The hardest thing to do is cooperate. I may have $580 in my register and I don't want to give it up. It's my earnings for the day. I don't want to give it up. Who cares? Give it up. It's $580. A cost of a funeral is 20 times more.

Make sure that you have signs posted around the cash register that says your video recording is secure and clerks have no access to it. Bad guys know stores have cameras now and part of their casing of the joint is knowing where the cameras are.

Give them what they want and get them out of your store. There is nothing in your store worth dying for.

Be aware of what the robber looks like but do it safely. This is probably the most delicate thing you can do. Are they thin? Are they fat? Are they tall? Try to remember a few characteristics without staring. What hand are they holding the gun in? Are they wearing a sports jersey?

There are two exceptions to the rule of cooperation:
1. Do not allow a robber to force you to leave the store.
2. If you feel physically threatened or if you feel your life is in danger, you must do what you think is best. This may mean fighting back.

After the robbery occurs, you must preserve the crime scene. This means don't touch anything if you know the thief picked something up or had a hand there. Lock the door and call the police. Give them all the information you have at that time.

If there are customers in your store who are willing to stay and give a statement, that's great. If they want to leave, politely try to get their name, address, and phone number so the police can interview them later. This is when your hand is shaking 98 beats per second. This is when you need to start documenting everything you can remember that happened. Write them down before it's too late. Within 30 minutes or an hour you will start forgetting.

Do not discuss the robbery with anyone other than the police. Do not mention the amount of money that was taken. This could give incentive to other robbers. Never tell the press because you don't want to turn your store into a mark.

Other potentially dangerous situations: shoplifiting, theft, customer fights, intoxicated customers.

If you suspect someone of shoplifting, don't physically intervene. Don't touch them. Ask them a question instead: 'I saw you looking at the Snickers bars. Was that a King Size or a regular size? When you're ready to pay for it just come on up.' If they refuse to cooperate, follow your company policy to either call the police or complete a store incident report. If they come back in the store, that's the time to follow them around the store a bit.

If you're not sure that a customer has been shoplifting, let it go.

Watch for a situation where, in a group, one person distracts the clerk and someone else in the group shoplifts.

Do any of you have a sign up or a policy that says no more than two teens in the store at any one time? Teens are one of our most profitable customers. They spend a lot of money on high margin items. If teens shop at your store, you're going to more than make up for the potential loss of a Snickers bar from one shoplifter.

Flash robs. That's the latest. They involve a large group of people — they may have been notified by text message to go to your store — and they all go inside at the same time, 20-40 people. They all grab something and run outside of the store. The good news is the last big one in Atlanta was caught on high def video and they were able to identify 50% of the people in the store and they dropped the dime on the rest so people are realizing this isn't a fun thing, it's a crime. If this happens to you, park yourself in front of the cigarette rack and keep them from stealing the high value items.

If there is a fight in your store, you don't want to get in the middle of that. The worst thing you could try to do is physically intervene. Call the police. Make sure you document what happened. A lot of time fights are distractions so someone can do a beer run on you, so watch out for that.

If someone is intoxicated, there is nothing you can do. If you deny them an alcohol sale, they may get angry at you. Don't yell back. Call the police.