Blockchain
Marijuana dispensary burglaries in Denver, CO area are at a three year high. The Denver Police Department is investigating eight (8) armed robberies of marijuana businesses since November 2019. Last week, the police arrested one suspect for a robbery on January 6, 2020. The police believe that the same five (5) suspects are responsible and that the dispensaries are targets due to the large amounts of cash on hand.
The police department held a safety event for industry members at the end of January to discuss ways to deter crime and to detect suspicious behavior. The armed robberies in Denver should prompt cannabis businesses to make sure that their security plans work.
Your security plan is more than a nice operating procedure that is submitted as part of an application for a marijuana license. In reality, the security plan is the most important aspect of your business. It protects your employees and your business assets. So how do you make sure it works?
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Perform weekly tests of your security systems to make sure that your automatic alerting system, security cameras, and locking mechanisms work.
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Provide your local police department with a live feed of the security cameras.
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Train employees on what they should do in the event of a robbery. Hire security experts to help.
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Change passcodes and locks after employees quit or are terminated.
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Join the neighborhood associations to understand trends in crime and to receive support.
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Assess changes in your environment and change your security plan accordingly.
Documenting your tests can help you identify poor vendors or processes. You should always fix a problem when it is identified. Documentation and effective procedures can also help you show investors and insurance companies that your risk of a security event is low. This can help you obtain more capital and lower premiums. Most importantly, make sure that your security plan is effective so that your employees are safe.