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Small
Business Crime Prevention |
Crime—burglary, robbery, vandalism, shoplifting, employee theft, and
fraud—costs businesses billions of dollars each year. Crime can be
particularly devastating to small businesses, who lose both customers
and employees when crime and fear claim a neighborhood.
When small businesses are victims of crime, they often react by
changing their hours of operation, raising their prices to cover their
losses, relocating outside the community, or simply closing. Fear of
crime isolates businesses, much like fear isolates individuals—and
this isolation increases vulnerability to crime.
Helping small businesses reduce and prevent crime must be a community
effort. Law enforcement can work with owners to improve security and
design their spaces to reduce risk. Small businesses can join together
in such efforts as Business Watch to alert each other to crime
patterns and suspicious activities.
Finally, businesses must reach out to others—law enforcement, civic
groups, schools, churches, youth groups—to fight violence, drugs, and
other crime and create a safer community for all.
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Laying a Foundation for Prevention |
Take a hard look at your business—it’s physical layout, employees,
hiring practices, and overall security. Assess its vulnerability to
all kinds of crime, from burglary to embezzlement. Some basic
prevention principles include:
Provide training for all employees—including cleaning staff -- so they
are familiar with security procedures and know your expectations.
Use good locks, safes, and alarm systems. If you have questions, seek
the help of law enforcement. Keep detailed, up-to-date records. Store
computer back-up copies and inventory lists off site. If you are ever
victimized, you can assess losses more easily and provide useful
information for law enforcement investigations.
Establish and enforce clear policies about employee theft, employee
substance abuse, crime reporting, opening and closing the business,
and other security procedures. Mark equipment—registers, adding
machines, calculators, computers, typewriters—with an identification
number (for example, tax identification or license number). Post the
Operation Identification warning sticker in your store-front window.
Keep a record of all identification numbers off the premises with
other important records. Consider the cost of each security
improvement you make against the potential savings through loss
reduction. Remember to assess the impact on employees and customers.
Crimes against businesses are usually crimes of opportunity. Failure
to take good security precautions invites crime into a business.
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Burglary Prevention |
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Make sure all outside entrances and inside
security doors have deadbolt locks. If you use padlocks, they should
be made of steel and kept locked at all times. Remember to remove
serial numbers from your locks, to prevent unauthorized keys from
being made.
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All outside or security doors should be metal-lined and secured with
metal security crossbars. Pin all exposed hinges to prevent removal. -
Windows should have secure locks and burglar-resistant glass.
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Remove all expensive items from window displays at night and make
sure you can see easily into your business after closing.
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Light the inside and outside of your business, especially around
doors, windows, skylights, or other entry points. Consider installing
covers over exterior lights and power sources to deter tampering.
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Check the parking lot for good lighting and unobstructed views.
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Keep your cash register in plain view from the outside of your
business, so it can be monitored by police during the day or at night.
Leave it open and empty after closing.
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Be sure your safe is fireproof and securely anchored. It should be
kept in plain view. Leave it open when it’s empty, use it to lock up
valuables when you close. Remember to change the combination when an
employee who has had access to it is no longer employed with your
business.
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Before you invest in an alarm system, check with several companies and
decide what level of security fits your needs. Contact your local law
enforcement agency to recommend established companies. Learn how to
use your security system properly and conduct routine operational test
to insure it is working correctly.
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Robbery Prevention |
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Robbery doesn’t occur as often as other crimes against businesses, but
the potential for loss can be much greater from a single incident.
Also, robbery involves force or threat of force or fear and can result
in serious injury or death.
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Greet every person who enters the business in a friendly manner.
Personal contact can discourage a would-be criminal.
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Keep windows clear of displays or signs and make sure your business
is well-light. Check the layout of your store, eliminating any blind
spots that may hide a criminal or robbery in progress.
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Provide information about your security systems to employees only on
a "need-to-know" basis. Instruct your employees to report any
suspicious activity or person immediately and write down any useful
information (clothing, age, vehicle description, license plate number)
for future reference.
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Place cash registers in the front section of the store. This
increases the chances of someone spotting a robbery in progress and
reporting it to the police.
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Keep small amounts of cash in the register to reduce losses. Use a
drop safe into which large bills and excess cash are dropped by
employees and cannot be retrieved by them. Post signs alerting
would-be robbers of this procedure.
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Make bank deposits often and during business hours. Don’t establish
a pattern, take different routes at different times during the day.
Ask a police officer to escort you to the bank whenever possible.
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Ask local law enforcement what to do in case you are robbed. Make
sure your address is visible so emergency vehicles can easily find
your business.
If you or your employees are ever confronted by a robber -- Cooperate
with his/her demands, merchandise and cash can always be
replaced—people can’t!
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Credit Card Fraud |
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Train employees to follow each credit card company’s authorization
procedures.
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Be aware of the customer who makes several small purchases by check
or credit card that are under the amount for manager approval.
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Is the item being purchased one that could be easily fenced for
cash? (Examples include televisions, stereos, cameras, and other
portable items.)
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If you are suspicious of the purchaser, make a note of appearance,
companions, any vehicle used, and identification presented. Call your
local police department.
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Look for "ghost" numbers or letters. Many times criminals will
change the numbers and/or name on a stolen card. To do this they
either melt the original name and numbers off or file them off. Both
of these processes can leave faint imprints of the original
characters.
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Examine the signature strip on the credit card. A criminal may cover
the real card owner’s signature with "White-Out" and sign it on the
new strip.
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Check to see if the signature on the card compares favorably with
the signature on the sales slip.
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Source: Credit Card and Computer Fraud, published by the Department of
the Treasury, United States Secret Service.)
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Check Fraud |
Many fraudulent checks are visibly phony. By paying close attention to
a check’s appearance, you can often detect a possible bad check before
accepting it as payment. When you see one or more of the following
telltale signs, you may be looking at a phony check. Protect yourself
against possible losses by requiring management approval of the check
or asking for an alternative form of payment.
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No perforation on check edges Apparently altered writing or erasures
Water spots or alterations of check’s color or graphic background
Numbered under 500 (new account)
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Post-dated
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Glossy rather than dull finish of magnetic ink
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Signature does not match imprinted name and ID
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Shoplifting Prevention |
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Businesses lose billions of dollars each year to shoplifting, and
then often must pass this loss on to the customers through higher
prices.
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Train employees in how to reduce opportunities for shoplifting and
how to apprehend shoplifters. Work with law enforcement to teach
employees what actions may signal shoplifting.
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Keep the store neat and orderly. Use mirrors to eliminate "blind
spots" in corners that might hide shoplifters. Merchandise should be
kept away from store exits to prevent grab-and-run situations.
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Keep displays full and orderly, so employees can see at a glance if
something is missing. Keep expensive merchandise in locked cases.
Limit the number of items employees remove at any one time for
customers to examine.
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Design the exits of the business so all persons must pass by
security personnel or store employees. You may want to use an
electronic article surveillance system or other inventory control
devices.
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The cash register should be inaccessible to customers, locked, and
monitored at all times. Place it near the front of the store, so
employees can also monitor customers coming and going.
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Dressing rooms and rest rooms should be watched at all times. Keep
dressing rooms locked and limit the number of items taken in.
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Vandalism Prevention
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Annual damage estimates are in the billions, and businesses pass the
costs of vandalism on to customers through higher prices. Most vandals
are young people—from pre-teen to teenagers to young adults.
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Clean up vandalism as soon as it happens—replace signs, repair
equipment, paint over graffiti. Once the graffiti is gone, use
landscape designs (such as prickly shrubs or closely planted hedges),
building materials (such as hard-to-mark surfaces), lighting, or
fences to discourage vandals.
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Work with law enforcement to set up a hotline to report vandalism.
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If you see someone vandalizing a property, report it to the police.
Remember, vandalism is a crime.
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Protect your business by installing and using good lighting and
locking gates. Eliminate places where someone might hide, such as
trees, shrubbery, stairwells, and alleys.
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Have a community meeting on vandalism to discuss its victims, costs,
and solutions. Include young people in all vandalism prevention
efforts.
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Employee Theft Prevention |
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Employee theft accounts for a large amount of business losses.
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Establish a written policy that outlines employee responsibilities,
standards of honesty, and general security procedures and consequences
for not following them. Make sure new employees read it, understand
it, and sign it as a condition of employment.
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Follow strict hiring practices. Verify all information and contact all
the references listed on an application. Consider running a credit
check.
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Keep accurate records on cash flow, inventory, equipment, and
supplies. Have it checked regularly by someone other than the person
responsible for maintaining it.
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Limit access to keys, the safe, computerized records, and alarm codes,
and engrave "DO NOT DUPLICATE" on store keys. Change locks and access
codes when an employee is terminated.
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If internal theft is discovered, take action quickly. Contact your
local law enforcement agency and be sure to send a message to your
employees that theft will not be tolerated.
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Reward employees for uncovering security problems and for doing a good
job.
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Organize a Business Watch |
Modeled after the Neighborhood Watch concept, Business Watch seeks to
reduce commercial crime and the fear of crime from both the shopper’s
and the shop owner’s point of view. The following steps are the most
important concepts behind Business Watch:
Get to know the people who operate the neighboring businesses.
They are your neighbors for eight or more hours a day. Making personal
contact is the best way to get acquainted. Make an effort to introduce
yourself to others—nearby residents, schools, civic groups, libraries,
clubs—in the neighborhood.
Watch and report. Report suspicious behavior to law enforcement
immediately, even if it means taking a chance on being wrong. A
telephone tree is an effective means of sharing information with other
merchants. Should a problem develop, each merchant is responsible for
calling one or two others on the tree.
Secure your property. Contact your local police or sheriff’s
department to conduct a security survey of your business. Ask for their
advice on lights, alarms, locks, and other security measures.
Engrave all valuable office equipment and tools. Use an
identification number—a tax identification number, license, or other
unique number. Check with law enforcement for their recommendation.
Aggressively advertise your Business Watch group. Post signs and
stickers saying that your block of businesses is organized to prevent
crime by watching out for and reporting suspicious activities to law
enforcement. |
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Adapted from Organizing a Business Watch,
published by the City of Portland, Office of Neighborhood Associations.) |
For more information regarding the
Business Watch program contact the
Officer for your
neighborhood.
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ABOUT RIPON
