For instances where thefts can’t be avoided, however, small additions like a height indicator will make identifying the culprit easier, Visbal says. Height indicators are adhesive measuring tapes, usually reaching seven feet, that are stuck on an exit door at quick-serves, convenience stores, and banks. Most are usually color-coded so that a witness can approximate a burglar’s height with only a glance.
“They can get a pretty good idea of what the person’s height is and with the body build they can give an approximate weight on that person as well,” he says.
Of course, relying on employees’ memories of customers who took a five-finger discount is fine, but security footage offers more reliable data.
Although Visbal says that cameras bought from electronic stores like Radio Shack are better than nothing, professionally designed systems give better results.
“The advantage of digital video over [closed circuit] video tapes is No. 1, those tapes wear out after eight or 10 tries and I can’t tell you how many times people think they’ve got something on tape and they end up having stuff that’s not very good quality because the tape has been abused too many times,” he says.
Visbal says the quality of the images is paramount when bringing charges against the burglar in court.
The Crime: School was out and summer was not providing enough entertainment for five Tennessee juveniles who vandalized a Pal’s store late one night. News reports say the youths scrawled profanity and insults aimed at police across the quick-serve’s menuboard and even climbed onto the store’s roof. Once there they left graffiti on the large display food that the store had mounted on its roof and left their mark on top of the store by leaving a stolen object from a separate burglary.
Mike Upp, executive vice president of strategic accounts for Westec Interactive, a security company whose clients include McDonald’s franchises, says iVR (interactive voice response) systems can help stop vandalism while it occurs.
“Typically what happens is that a system is integrated with an existing or new alarm panel so you’ve got typical motion detection, glass break, that type of thing,” Uppp says.
“If somebody breaks into the restaurant in the middle of the night it’s going to set off the alarm system. The difference is we’re going to see it [on the computer screen] instead of just getting a digital signal saying, ‘This restaurant just went into an alarm state.’”
Once that happens, security operators can actually speak directly to the perpetrators. “We’ll voice down something like, ‘This is Westec Interactive Security. We’re recording and monitoring all of your activity. You kids in the parking lot need to stop now or the police will be dispatched.”
In addition to issuing warnings, iVR systems also have the ability to have a two-way conversation with intruders as well as employees who might still be in the restaurant. Upp says that iVR technology can also be used to disperse large crowds of teens in the parking lot after school or even rowdy drunk adults late at night without risking an employee’s safety during an encounter.
The Crime: “Don’t be dumb. I have a gun. Put the money in the bag and don’t tell your boss,” was the note one New York burglar handed to a McDonald’s cashier in September. Apparently, the employee didn’t move fast enough, though. Instead of waiting for the money from the register, the burglar grabbed the clear plastic Ronald McDonald donation box off the counter and ran out of the store.
It’s unlikely Bonnie and Clyde will walk into your store anytime soon, but should someone off the street demand money from your cashiers you want employees to be prepared and you want it all on tape.
“With the digital video you want to have your points of sale covered so you can see what’s going on with cash transactions,” Visbal says. “You also want to have the entrance and exit clearly and adequately covered with a camera so if there is an incident you can then take that to the police and help them in their investigation.”
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) advises employers to train their staff on how to handle a robbery before it happens. The organization suggests in-structing employees to never fight back, remember the criminal’s appearance, and lock the doors and call the police immediately after the robber has left.
And that strategy seems to be working. According to the FBI, arrests for robberies rose 8.6 percent in 2006 from 2005.
Westec’s systems also allow employees to activate a panic button during threatening situations.
“Typically we get video in 15 to 20 seconds and audio right behind it,” Upp says. “They’ll push the button and activate the system and it’s obvious to the people in our monitoring system what’s happening.”