The Business Case for Security Training: Protect Your People, Product and Profits

by Jeff Dingle

Recent high visibility shootings have brought gun violence into the consciousness of many business owners. While statistically shootings are rare (of course that depends on where you are located), statics don’t help if YOU are the unfortunate one in a million.

Some may see security as a burden or a useless regulatory requirement, but the fact is that a well-executed security program does NOT need to be obtrusive and can in fact, add to your bottom line.

The cannabis industry is not immune from violence.  A recent Google search for “Cannabis Shootings” brought up multiple articles of shootings in Oregon, Baltimore, Vancouver and “10 dispensary shootings over a three year period in the San Fernando Valley”

The cannabis Industry is unique.  It is growing at an astronomical pace, and opportunity is abundant.  “It’s like the Wild West” says Special Agent Stephen Brooks with the State of Arkansas, “many States are still trying to figure out how to manage the cannabis business”.

Cannabis is high value, easy to move, virtually untraceable and easy to sell. That makes cannabis products vulnerable to thieves and robbers.  The cannabis industry is also very cash intensive, with cash being high value, easy to move and virtually untraceable as well.

As businesses grow and expand many needs appear, and often get ignored – security is one of those needs. The problem from a business standpoint is that security often requires the expenditure of money to protect against things that might never happen.

Security runs the gamut of using technology; cameras, alarm systems, card readers, and locks to prevent loss, and therefore increase profit.  Properly training staff to handle problems in an appropriate manner helps to reduce or prevent liability.

When it comes to providing security, there are only two possible choices resulting in only two possible results – four options total.  Either you Do something or you Don’t do something, resulting in either  Something happens or Nothing happens.

If you Do something– use cameras, train your staff – and Nothing happens, then you have succeeded.  All is good. If you Don’t do something and Nothing happens, then luck is on your side, and all is also good.

However – if you Don’t do something, and Something happens, a robbery, a major theft, an incident of violence,  then your loss is compounded by the potential lability and the negligence lawsuit (why didn’t you do something?).  This is bad.

Lastly, if you Do something and Something happens, then hopefully the training and security measures that you put into place helped to mitigate the loss and certainly reduced the liability because you made an effort to provide a safe environment.  While providing security costs money, not providing security can cost more money.

Is it worth the risk? According to Attorney Bobby Ricks, it’s important to “do something”.  “It’s beneficial to look for problems before they occur.  Often small problems can be identified and corrected before they become unmanageable.”

“The first thing to understand is your risk, and understand that risk will vary from property to property, even in the same city” says Ricks.  “The greater the prior history of crime in your area, the greater effort you should place on prevention.Risk is also reduced or mitigated through the use of security equipment, policies and procedures.  Review your policies and procedures on a regular basis, and more importantly, make sure your policies and procedures are actually followed.

Security can be challenging, and sometimes doing the right thing isn’t enough.  A recent armed robbery of a gun store in Georgia resulted in the murder of the owner, his wife and their grandson who was working in the store.  Although the store had a camera system, the robber located the video recorder and took it with him, leaving no video of the robbery.  Sometimes just having cameras is not enough, think like a thief and take the steps to prevent what YOU would do if YOU robbed YOUR dispensary.

It’s also useful to understand the difference in possibility and probability.  Possibility is a simple yes or no.  Either something is possible or it is not, there is no grey area. Probability is the likelihood that an event will occur.  A robbery is possible.  Whether or not it is probable is based on your location and the policies and procedures put into place to prevent robberies.  Probability can be based on a scale, so the greater the probability of problems, the greater the effort (and money) should be put into increasing security.

The two most important things to train after product knowledge and sales are customer service and security. Customer service benefits a retail operation in many ways – customers are more comfortable, and theft is reduced when a staff member speaks and pays attention to customers.  The least expensive way to specifically increase security is to train your staff at all facilities, not just staff tasked with loss prevention or security, on the basics of providing a secure business. Knowledgeable people pay attention, and the protection of product and people will reduce loss and add to the bottom line.  Protect you product and your people.

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