NEW YORK -- If you want your convenience-store employees to emerge from an armed robbery at least physically unscathed, they'll have to forget nearly everything they thought they knew about employee hold-up procedures.
Armed robbery security expert and former law enforcement officer John D. Moore, CPP (certified protection professional), said Wednesday during a CSPNetwork CyberConference sponsored by Corporate Safe Specialists (CSS) that myth-busting is the first step to preparing employees for best practices during a robbery. [Click here for an OnDemand rebroadcast of the CyberConference (Retailers Only - Free).]
Moore, the author of 14 technical security manuals on armed robbery and related emergency situations for high-risk business employees, said the right training doesn't have to be time-consuming to be life-saving. Three or four minutes can save a life, said Moore.
CSS marketing director Wes Wernette opened the seminar with some bracing FBI statistics:
There were 24,000 c-store robberies in 2004. Almost 60% of them involved weapons. The average loss was $653.
Of course, the damage doesn't only affect the bottom line, but Moore said employers and employees can lessen the emotional and physical trauma with policy and training.
First, Moore wanted to diffuse notions he says c-store employees have about procedures when a person walks into a store and demands money. He said the top-three widely accepted notions are don't look at a robber, don't speak with a robber and don't set off the alarm. He also said the average length of a robbery is 47 seconds.
Unless specifically told not to by the robber, the employee should both look at and talk to the robber to decrease the likelihood of injury in two ways: forming a relationship has been shown in hostage situations to result in less or no physical harm; and by making it clear what the employee is doing while going through the motions to give the robber money.
If you communicate with a robber, you're less likely to be injured, said Moore. Establishing a relationship in a short period of time is critical.
Alarms should absolutely be set off, even if it's after the robber leaves the property. If there are multiple alarm buttons, they should all be set off, to ensure transmission. Above all, Moore said, there is no action that should be taken 100% of the time. The employee needs to use best judgment based on the situation.
More tips from Moore:
Don't make sudden movements or physically or verbally resist. Less than 2% of robberies involve unprovoked attacks, and physical resistance results in injury 60% of the time. Don't chase the suspect. Lock the door after the robber leaves, not before. Call police when all is clear and door is locked.
Safety begins with company policies and procedures for robberies, followed by training. Moore did not recommend the use of videos for training, citing research that showed employees who watched them performed about the same as those with no training.
Role-playing and observation of role-playing were the best ways, said Moore, including looking at the checkout area from the robber's point of view to see how movements made to satisfy the robber's demands could be mistaken for alarm usage or weapon-grabbing. Having solid policies and training practices are also important in case an employee complains to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) after a robbery.
Moore said there are best practices for fact-gathering as well:
Urge employees to mentally note as much as possible the type of gun used and any other characteristics of the robber. Design observation forms so that they are a different color than other store forms. A robber's physical description should move from the head down on the page. The description of weapons and the robber's actions should be on the other side, so there is only one form.
Other tips included putting signs on safes and on front doors indicating amount of money on premises or that the safe is time-delayed, proper placement of height markers (not on hinge side), and to conduct safety surveys of the store's surroundings at night and during the day.
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