NCJ Number
176768
Journal
Security Management Volume: 42 Issue: 11 Dated: November 1998 Pages: 49-53
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The Southland Corporation of Dallas has implemented security strategies over the past 20 years that have helped reduce robberies by 70 percent at its 2,100 company-owned and 2,900 franchised 7-Eleven stores and that have reduced the average monetary loss to just $37.
Abstract
The company used studies conducted since the mid-1970s to gain insight into how robbers think and what deters them from committing a crime. The company then developed a crime deterrence program centered around the three components of cash control, visibility, and training. The company also learned that using closed-circuit television cameras and alarms, reducing to a minimum the number of escape routes, and developing a strong relationship with local police can help reduce crime at its stores. The stores use a 500-pound cash control unit that can hold cash in a secure container. The stores are brightly lit; employees and cash registers are clearly visible. Employees are trained to handle robberies as calmly and quickly as they would any other transaction. These and the other strategies have been validated by research as deterrents to robbery and violence. They have helped the company reduce robberies substantially and have made company employees feel safer. Illustration