Any thoughts on this?
http://www.telegram.com/article/20071121/NEWS/711210612/1101
Heading off holdups
Risks, responsibilities fall on individual store owners
NEIGHBORHOODS
By Danielle M. Williamson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]
In the 19 years she has owned Short Stop Convenience Store in Gardner, Lisa Briggs hasn’t been robbed once.
Maybe it’s the many hidden cameras she has inside and outside her Pine Street store, or the panic buttons criminals know would guarantee a swift police response. It could be because she keeps the store well lighted, her windows free of clutter and signs, and her employees trained to recognize potential threats.
“This is my business. This is all I have, and I do all I can to protect it,” Ms. Briggs said Friday as she made a bacon pizza for a customer.
Police wish all convenience store owners would be as vigilant when safeguarding their businesses. Faced with a consistent string of convenience store and gas station robberies, officers in cities, including Gardner and Worcester, are frustrated by the lack of private investment in security and their inability to penalize store owners whose establishments are easy targets for robbers.
The National Association of Convenience Stores, an industry trade group, says that the “vast majority” of stores are crime-free. The association is committed to deterring crime and supports beefing up security, but said adopting uniform safety procedures would be challenging in an industry filled with small-business owners.
The Shell Food Mart station at 6 Pearson Blvd. in Gardner has been robbed 12 times in the last five years, most recently Oct. 7. (A man turned himself in Nov. 10 and confessed to the robbery, citing heroin addiction as the cause.)
Honey Farms stores in Worcester on Park Avenue, Vernon, Belmont and Grafton streets have been targeted a total of 15 times between May and October.
Acknowledging that not all robberies can be prevented, Gardner police Lt. Gerald J. Poirier believes digital video surveillance equipment, good store visibility, employee training and requiring at least two cashiers to work at night would deter convenience store crime.
“Crime prevention through environmental design,” which includes keeping the cash register out of criminals’ reach and removing excessive advertisements from store windows, are examples of inexpensive measures that can reduce robberies, Lt. Poirier said. “The typical robber is an opportunist who’s under the influence of drugs,” he said. “Many will walk into a store, not planning to rob it, until they see how easy it would be to overtake an attendant.”
Lt. Poirier has repeatedly complained to the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the Pearson Boulevard Shell station, and in response, was mailed a 35-page booklet with the agency’s “recommendations for workplace violence prevention programs in late-night retail establishments.”
Lt. Poirier believes that since fire-suppression systems at gas stations are required by law, government should also impose crime prevention standards.
“If the government can shut down a station for failing fire inspections, why can’t they demand overall inspections for other hazards?” he asked.
John M. Chavez, regional spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said there are no specific standards for security in such businesses. According to federal crime statistics from 2006, about 5.5 percent of all robberies in the Northeast took place at convenience stores, compared with 3.1 percent at gasoline or service stations and 2.6 percent at banks. The bulk — nearly 59 percent of robberies — took place on the street or highway.
OSHA investigates security concerns only if an employee files a formal complaint, Mr. Chavez said. Such complaints account for a small fraction of the agency’s workload. The most that usually comes from these complaints is that OSHA gives store operators recommendations — none of which OSHA has authority to enforce.
Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst, spokesman for the Worcester Police Department, believes quality surveillance equipment, electronic doors that let cashiers dictate who’s allowed in the store late at night, panic buttons and requiring that customers remove hoods and sunglasses should be standard in such establishments.
After the Oct. 7 Shell station robbery in Gardner, managers posted a sign asking customers to remove hoods and sunglasses.
These instructions are rarely enforced, Sgt. Hazelhurst said.
“It’s up to the stores to enforce these security measures,” he said. “We can’t make them.”
Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said that while his organization supports beefing up security for safety and to improve the industry’s image, he opposes uniform standards.
“Well-meaning legislation can sometimes have unintended effects,” he said.
The mandatory scheduling of more than one worker during late night hours — a measure British Columbia started enforcing last month — could lead to violence if a robber became surprised by an employee he didn’t see behind the counter when entering the store. Panic alarms could agitate a criminal, who may not know if the cashier was reaching for a weapon behind the counter, Mr. Lenard said.
The association encourages its members (about half the convenience stores nationwide) to maintain high visibility in their stores, keep only small amounts of cash in the register and train employees to recognize threats, such as customers wearing sunglasses after dark or wearing a disguise.
At well-known gas stations with attached convenience stores, including Shell, implementing companywide security standards is not as simple as it may seem. Shell, for example, doesn’t own or even manage the vast majority of stores that carry its name.
Shell Oil Co., based in Houston, owns only 10 percent of the country’s 14,000 Shell stations, including the Pearson Boulevard Shell in Gardner, said spokesman Anne Peebles. The company, however, does not manage the Gardner establishment, which is run by ENT Inc., a Shrewsbury-based management group.
Therefore, at most Shells, an independent business owner simply sells Shell gasoline and is responsible for day-to-day operations, Ms. Peebles said. The arrangement is similar to a vendor selling Pepsi products. The store owner receives a portion of the profits from Pepsi sales, but does not answer to PepsiCo Inc. about its operations.
Ms. Peebles said Shell can “de-brand” the business if the operator is giving the product a bad name, taking away the store’s ability to buy Shell gasoline. She could not speak specifically about the repeated robberies at the Gardner station.
The general manager for ENT did not return a call seeking comment.
Ms. Briggs, the convenience store owner in Gardner, said some crime prevention is simply common sense.
A man wearing a fake mustache — like the suspect who robbed a Gardner bank this month — should immediately trigger a response that something is not right, she said.
“A lot of it comes down to paying attention and watching your environment,” she said. “I’m looking at everyone who walks through that door.”
Contact reporter Danielle Williamson by e-mail at [email protected].
My personal favorite line is the one that says how the criminals know that the panic buttons are there and will instantly summon police. But is anyone else even a little bit worried that the police are suggesting we make it a law that these stores have to do more to protect themselves from crime? How nuts is that?
http://www.telegram.com/article/20071121/NEWS/711210612/1101
Heading off holdups
Risks, responsibilities fall on individual store owners
NEIGHBORHOODS
By Danielle M. Williamson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]
In the 19 years she has owned Short Stop Convenience Store in Gardner, Lisa Briggs hasn’t been robbed once.
Maybe it’s the many hidden cameras she has inside and outside her Pine Street store, or the panic buttons criminals know would guarantee a swift police response. It could be because she keeps the store well lighted, her windows free of clutter and signs, and her employees trained to recognize potential threats.
“This is my business. This is all I have, and I do all I can to protect it,” Ms. Briggs said Friday as she made a bacon pizza for a customer.
Police wish all convenience store owners would be as vigilant when safeguarding their businesses. Faced with a consistent string of convenience store and gas station robberies, officers in cities, including Gardner and Worcester, are frustrated by the lack of private investment in security and their inability to penalize store owners whose establishments are easy targets for robbers.
The National Association of Convenience Stores, an industry trade group, says that the “vast majority” of stores are crime-free. The association is committed to deterring crime and supports beefing up security, but said adopting uniform safety procedures would be challenging in an industry filled with small-business owners.
The Shell Food Mart station at 6 Pearson Blvd. in Gardner has been robbed 12 times in the last five years, most recently Oct. 7. (A man turned himself in Nov. 10 and confessed to the robbery, citing heroin addiction as the cause.)
Honey Farms stores in Worcester on Park Avenue, Vernon, Belmont and Grafton streets have been targeted a total of 15 times between May and October.
Acknowledging that not all robberies can be prevented, Gardner police Lt. Gerald J. Poirier believes digital video surveillance equipment, good store visibility, employee training and requiring at least two cashiers to work at night would deter convenience store crime.
“Crime prevention through environmental design,” which includes keeping the cash register out of criminals’ reach and removing excessive advertisements from store windows, are examples of inexpensive measures that can reduce robberies, Lt. Poirier said. “The typical robber is an opportunist who’s under the influence of drugs,” he said. “Many will walk into a store, not planning to rob it, until they see how easy it would be to overtake an attendant.”
Lt. Poirier has repeatedly complained to the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the Pearson Boulevard Shell station, and in response, was mailed a 35-page booklet with the agency’s “recommendations for workplace violence prevention programs in late-night retail establishments.”
Lt. Poirier believes that since fire-suppression systems at gas stations are required by law, government should also impose crime prevention standards.
“If the government can shut down a station for failing fire inspections, why can’t they demand overall inspections for other hazards?” he asked.
John M. Chavez, regional spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said there are no specific standards for security in such businesses. According to federal crime statistics from 2006, about 5.5 percent of all robberies in the Northeast took place at convenience stores, compared with 3.1 percent at gasoline or service stations and 2.6 percent at banks. The bulk — nearly 59 percent of robberies — took place on the street or highway.
OSHA investigates security concerns only if an employee files a formal complaint, Mr. Chavez said. Such complaints account for a small fraction of the agency’s workload. The most that usually comes from these complaints is that OSHA gives store operators recommendations — none of which OSHA has authority to enforce.
Sgt. Kerry Hazelhurst, spokesman for the Worcester Police Department, believes quality surveillance equipment, electronic doors that let cashiers dictate who’s allowed in the store late at night, panic buttons and requiring that customers remove hoods and sunglasses should be standard in such establishments.
After the Oct. 7 Shell station robbery in Gardner, managers posted a sign asking customers to remove hoods and sunglasses.
These instructions are rarely enforced, Sgt. Hazelhurst said.
“It’s up to the stores to enforce these security measures,” he said. “We can’t make them.”
Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores, said that while his organization supports beefing up security for safety and to improve the industry’s image, he opposes uniform standards.
“Well-meaning legislation can sometimes have unintended effects,” he said.
The mandatory scheduling of more than one worker during late night hours — a measure British Columbia started enforcing last month — could lead to violence if a robber became surprised by an employee he didn’t see behind the counter when entering the store. Panic alarms could agitate a criminal, who may not know if the cashier was reaching for a weapon behind the counter, Mr. Lenard said.
The association encourages its members (about half the convenience stores nationwide) to maintain high visibility in their stores, keep only small amounts of cash in the register and train employees to recognize threats, such as customers wearing sunglasses after dark or wearing a disguise.
At well-known gas stations with attached convenience stores, including Shell, implementing companywide security standards is not as simple as it may seem. Shell, for example, doesn’t own or even manage the vast majority of stores that carry its name.
Shell Oil Co., based in Houston, owns only 10 percent of the country’s 14,000 Shell stations, including the Pearson Boulevard Shell in Gardner, said spokesman Anne Peebles. The company, however, does not manage the Gardner establishment, which is run by ENT Inc., a Shrewsbury-based management group.
Therefore, at most Shells, an independent business owner simply sells Shell gasoline and is responsible for day-to-day operations, Ms. Peebles said. The arrangement is similar to a vendor selling Pepsi products. The store owner receives a portion of the profits from Pepsi sales, but does not answer to PepsiCo Inc. about its operations.
Ms. Peebles said Shell can “de-brand” the business if the operator is giving the product a bad name, taking away the store’s ability to buy Shell gasoline. She could not speak specifically about the repeated robberies at the Gardner station.
The general manager for ENT did not return a call seeking comment.
Ms. Briggs, the convenience store owner in Gardner, said some crime prevention is simply common sense.
A man wearing a fake mustache — like the suspect who robbed a Gardner bank this month — should immediately trigger a response that something is not right, she said.
“A lot of it comes down to paying attention and watching your environment,” she said. “I’m looking at everyone who walks through that door.”
Contact reporter Danielle Williamson by e-mail at [email protected].
My personal favorite line is the one that says how the criminals know that the panic buttons are there and will instantly summon police. But is anyone else even a little bit worried that the police are suggesting we make it a law that these stores have to do more to protect themselves from crime? How nuts is that?
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