We already have the technology to provide a safer environment for customers and employees, so when will we use it?
By Bill Scott, founder of StoreReport LLC & Scott Systems Inc.
I intercepted an article yesterday telling about a couple that was attacked by a gang of thugs at a convenience store. It resulted in a pipe being thrown, knocking out 10 of the young woman’s teeth, and sending her to the hospital for reconstructive surgery to her face and jaw.
Store robberies, senseless shootings and unwarranted physical attacks prompted by gang initiations aren’t making the news as much as they should, and when news of such events does come to light, a lot of it is buried by the media for political and social reasons. It will only get worse.
This is only the beginning
As the incidents of violence sweep across the nation, citizens are encouraged to be submissive, hide or flee and call 9-1-1. Some convenience stores and other small retailers are reporting being robbed multiple times in a year, and some store owners are arming themselves, increasing the possibility of accidental shootings, putting employees and customers at risk. Our police seem to be overwhelmed, and do not possess the manpower to respond until after an event has already taken place.
Time to take this seriously
It’s not if, but when we will begin to see private monitoring services and emergency centers being set up for businesses of all types, where thousands of locations could be monitored 24/7 by a team of professionally trained personnel, working with local law enforcement to report incidents in progress, and providing live videos that could be picked up through public or secure Internet connections.
There are various sensors and tools readily available that could alert monitoring companies when an incident might be developing, and loud speakers could be installed providing two-way communications inside the store to scare criminals away before he or she completes his business.
How would law enforcement react?
We already know the answer to that question, because of the success of local National Neighborhood Watch programs. Additional sets of eyes and ears make us all safer, and it assists the police in stopping crime before it starts. Criminals would fear such a program, because they would be aware of the possibility of a worldwide audience, fascinated by watching incidents in progress such as these.
What are a few of the additional benefits?
Retailers will flock to the service, because it could be added to their existing equipment for as little as $100/month, or by placing inexpensive cameras at various locations in stores.
It would most certainly qualify for a reduction in insurance rates which might cover the costs involved.
Customers would feel safer patronizing stores that had such a service in place.
And the caveat of the program would be that it would discourage the wrong type of customers from entering the stores in the first place, and solve the problems of gangs hanging around the stores and terrorizing customers.
In addition, it could certainly result in a reduction of shoplifting, employee theft and shrink.
We possess the technology to do this toady. I’m curious, would you consider having such a service implemented in your environment?
