Basseterre, St. Kitts, October 12, 2016 (RSCNPF): The fourth quarter (October to December) is a period of great anticipation for many local businesses and is often what makes the difference between a good or a great year. It is also a period of increased activity for would be robbers, burglars and shop lifters.
Head of the Criminal Investigations Department, Inspector James Francis wants business owners to be proactive about security in order to reduce any risk.
Underscoring this, Inspector Francis said, “As businesses get into this time of year, it is recommended that they review their internal security plan for the prevention of robbery, burglary and shop-lifting.”
Inspector Francis added, “now is the time to take a moment and discuss with the staff, how to identify potential situations and what to do. These periods of increased shopping, brings its own set of challenges for businesses, and owners and staff need to be mindful of what to do and how to react.”
“With increased sales, it is expected that there will be increased cash on the property, this is a draw for a would be robber, however, business owners can reduce the risk by making deposits several times during the day, by clearly displaying that no cash is held on property and employing other security practices,” said Francis.
He added, would be burglars know that during this time, there is added inventory on site, and inventory is of value. Inspector Francis encouraged, “now is the time for businesses to survey their storerooms, look for vulnerabilities such as broken locks, windows that can’t be secured, and the like, and fix them.” He added, “doing this reduces the chance of losing your inventory and your investment.”
Inspector Francis noted, “in the retail businesses, shop-lifting is always a present threat and it increases during periods of increased patronage, and encourages store owners to remind the staff on the need to be alert and focused on customer behavior and activity.”
The CID head also noted, “the increased shopping period is a time of increased credit card fraud and said businesses can do their part to prevent this by ensuring proper identification is presented with each purchase.”
The Head of the Criminal Investigations Department said, “We want our businesses to enjoy the upcoming shopping season, we want them to be safe and so our investigators are available to brief businesses and their staff on how to reduce risk with regards to robbery, burglary, shop-lifting and credit card fraud.” Francis said, ” all the business has to do is call us at 465-2241 ext 4236, and we will be there. This is something that can be done in 30 minutes, before or after you open. I strongly encourage business owners to take advantage of our security briefing.”
Inspector Francis continued, “the Government has given concessions for the importation of electronic security systems for use by businesses and homeowners. I urge businesses to take advantage of this opportunity. He added, “those with security systems already in place should ensure that they are active and working during the upcoming season. The capture of any video footage assist greatly in Police Investigations.”
Inspector Francis also added, businesses should be alert of activity around their establishments, and encourage them to report suspicious activity by calling any Police Station or Crime Stoppers, the anonymous hotline at 1-800-8477(TIPS).