The opioid epidemic has ushered in many tragedies. Addiction can be horrific, and it can push people to do many desperate and foolish things. It also motivates opportunistic criminals.
It shouldn’t be much of a shock then to hear that pharmacies are seeing a rise in robbery and burglary. While the rising crime rates targeted towards pharmacies is certainly alarming, it is fortunate that like any symptom of illness, there is a treatment. What does Sonitrol Great Lakes prescribe for this ailment?
What to do in the event of a robbery?
For starters, you want to know how to handle a robbery if one occurs. Understanding what to do in this situation is critical. Taking the right steps increase the safety of everyone involved.
Fully cooperate with the robber. The best way to prevent the event from escalating is to simply give them what they want. Any drugs or damages caused from the event can be replaced; a life cannot.
Stay calm and refrain from agitating the robber. Indicate you will comply with their demands. If you feel yourself begin to panic, focus on steady, deep breaths.
If you can activate a panic button without being noticed, do so. This triggers a silent alarm, so you won’t be placing yourself in danger, and it will mean the police can respond sooner.
After the robber leaves, immediately make notes for the police. Appearance, tattoos, scars, height, voice, etc. If you see what the getaway vehicle was, or its license plate, write those down as well.
Lock down the store immediately after the event and wait for the police to arrive.
Panic buttons and professional monitoring
A panic button can immediately alert our professionally trained operators that an event is occurring at your pharmacy. An operator will then be able to see and hear anything that is going on at the location, and relay that information to local law enforcement. The largest strength with this is that the alarm is silent. This will keep the robber from becoming agitated or desperate, which can inspire reckless and dangerous actions. They won’t know that an alert has been sent out until it’s too late.
Sonitrol and CCTV
Sonitrol Great Lakes provides your pharmacy with fully monitored video. Any alarm triggered, be it a panic button activated due to a robbery, or alarms triggered from a night time burglary, will immediately alert our operators. All video of the culprit/s are then saved and recorded while police are notified. Having visible cameras displayed throughout the pharmacy and at entrances can deter most criminals from targeting your pharmacy. Placing a camera that is focused at the register counter, that can get high quality images of any attempting robbers, can assist police in identifying and apprehending the criminal.
A fantastic security measure is to establish barriers between any criminal and their target. Most pharmacies already know this, and keep high target medication in a separate, more defensible room. Access control can prevent or slow down burglars, but it also has another importance function. It cuts down on internal theft. While robbery and burglary are becoming more common, and are certainly more frightening, internal theft at pharmacies have been a consistent problem in the industry.
By switching out traditional locks and keys for electronic locks and keycards, you can limit access to certain areas of your pharmacy, set time-based locks, and even record who uses their card, and where. Access control is therefore an incredibly effective means of preventing internal theft and is useful for tracking down any employee who may be pocketing some medication.
Drug related crime is continuing to escalate, and the threats pharmacies face continues to grow. Don’t put off installing an effective, reliable system in your workplace. Contact us today and have our professional technicians evaluate your location and develop a security solution that solves all your needs.
