The frequency of pharmacy robberies has slowly risen over the past decade or so, with a recent upsurge in these dangerous crimes. I have always said that every armed robbery is a potential homicide. I know this is not a very settling statement to make, but it is unfortunately true. The good news is that a very low percentage of pharmacy robberies result in the death or injury of a pharmacy employee or customer.
I think one of the first orders of business is to get to know your local law enforcement officers. I cannot stress the importance of doing this, as the old “squeaky wheel gets the grease” adage applies very well to the retail pharmacy. Requesting them to come to your store and conduct a security check is one of the first steps to take to become more familiar with your officers and them with you. Larger police departments will likely have an officer or officers who work in some kind of crime prevention program and are easily equipped to provide you with this service. Even the smaller departments, however, may have a designated person working the day shift who can evaluate your store and point out the positive and negative issues that either protect you or make you more vulnerable to robberies and burglaries. Regardless, reach out to your local law enforcement and open the doors of communication before a robbery or other serious pharmacy crime occurs. [Read more…]