Staffordshire Police

The main types of retail robbery are:

1. violent till snatches - usually carried out by a single offender who usually targets smaller stores
2. organised robbery - usually involve a number of offenders who are targeting cash in the safe or high value stock and often involve weapon use
3. cash in transit attacks – robbery targets cash as it is being moved from one location to another.

Step one – risk assess

Not all the factors which make you more vulnerable are within your control, but the following are recognised as increasing risk:

• types of goods you sell (how easy a robber would find it to resell the stolen items)
• living in an area with a higher rate of crime
• late opening hours
• age and experience of staff
• being in a quiet shopping area.

For instance, an off-licence in a high-crime area, with late opening hours, a young staff and in an isolated side street is high risk. A furniture store in a busy precinct which opens office hours and has experienced staff would be a far lower risk. Your local crime reduction officer can help with risk assessment.

Step two – train your staff

Involve your staff in robbery prevention plans and make sure they understand how to use any security equipment or systems, such as Closed Circuit Television (CCTV), that you install. However, training should be handled sensitively and not raise unnecessary anxiety among staff.

Step three – report suspicious circumstances

Train your staff to be vigilant and report their suspicions – potential offenders can be deterred either immediately before carrying out the robbery or when they ‘casing’ or looking at the business with a view to robbing it. You may also gather valuable evidence for police.

Step four – train staff in cash handling

(closing till draws quickly when not in use, always have more than one staff member around when money is moved and counting cash in a secure part of the store).

Step five – limit the impact of a robbery.

Make sure your staff know what to do if they’re robbed, for example:

• co-operate with robbers and reduce risk of injury
• keep still and don’t make sudden movements
• train staff to observe details of the robbers such as hair/eye colour, height, build, clothing, sound of voice/accent and any other distinctive features or marks such as a tattoo. As well as helping with detection, this makes staff feel less helpless and gives them confidence they are fighting back
• support your staff if a robbery takes place – victim support can help with this
• use a check sheet – this would contain recording details of offenders and the offence immediately after it happens to improve the quality of evidence given to police

Step six – make yourself a harder target to hit:

• remove the target. Only keep a small float of cash accessible and use stickers/posters to ensure potential robbers know this
• encourage non-cash transactions
• use cash-carrying specialists for transferring money – they have better security and expertise
• when taking money to the bank, don’t wear uniforms or other identification, go with a companion and vary the routine – don’t use the same route or time of day and be vigilant at the night safe
• install anti-grab till screens
• counter caches –small safes securely built into the counter where till money can quickly and easily be stored (promote through posters/stickers)
• make cash inaccessible to staff, either with time locks or having cash-collection companies as sole safe key holders (promote through posters/stickers)
• separate key holders for shop and safe (promote through posters/stickers).

High-risk businesses may want to consider more comprehensive security including:

• floor to ceiling screens
• secure cash-handling area with CCTV, reinforced doors and walls and entry control mechanisms
• external access safes – these are built into external walls and accessed by cash collection companies from outside

Step seven – design crime out:

• make the store less attractive to robbers – have cash desks where robbers can’t keep all staff in their line of sight
• keep the inside of the store in view – make sure people passing get a clear view not blocked by window displays
• have your tills in a prominent position but not too close to the door – increasing the number of potential witnesses but making it harder for a robber to dash in and out quickly
• consider using ‘decoy money’ – prepared bags of low denomination coins to reduce your potential loss
• where possible have enough staff in the store to deter robbers
• CCTV – use good quality equipment and keep it well maintained.