CHICAGO -- A convenience-store owner in Sheboygan, Wis., has been a vocal advocate for solutions to the city’s opioid epidemic. Dick Hiers, owner of the Northeast Standard BP store has organized meetings with law enforcement and posted signs about the dangers of heroin and other drugs.
Sheboygan is one of the Wisconsin counties that has been hit hardest by the opioid crisis, which President Trump this summer called a "national emergency" and promised to address. In 2015, 18 out of every 100,000 people died from drug overdoses, according to the National Center for Health Statistics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So, when four of Hiers’ star workers were arrested and charged with manufacturing, selling or distributing drugs, the c-store owner felt blindsided. “They hide it very, very well,” he said.
Retailers do have some tools at their disposal to prevent this unpleasant surprise, according to Tim Dimoff, CEO and president of SACS Consulting and Investigative Services Inc. in Akron, Ohio. Here are warning signs and action plans from the security expert and former police officer ...