Even if you’ve invested in various security measures and taken the necessary safety precautions, you are never completed protected against break-ins and robberies. But the actions you take after an incident has taken place could be vital for reclaiming stolen goods and prosecuting the offender.
Businesses that have chosen companies such as Access Facilities Management for key holding, response alarms and mobile patrols can rest assured any incident will be dealt with in a professional and proficient way.
But the Metropolitan Police has some other useful and valuable advice to businesses that have suffered from a robbery, which is as follows:
- Help customers, clients and staff – If anyone has been injured or appears to be suffering from shock, provide appropriate and prompt assistance to them. Your business should have a first aid trained member of staff who can deal with minor injuries quickly and efficiently whenever required.
- Close the premises – Even if a robbery takes place during peak trading hours, it is important to close the premises because this will help preserve the environment for police crime scene examiners and investigators. Do not let anyone interfere with or remove any items from the crime scene, this is very important.
- Call the police – When calling the police, try to stay as calm and collected as possible whilst on the line. The operator will want to know about the crime, the company’s address, and details of any injuries and possibly even descriptions of those that were responsible for the crime. Police will look out for the offenders while travelling to the scene, so accurate details and descriptions are incredibly important in case they are still in the vicinity, as they often are!
- Don’t touch anything – There is a good chance the offender will have left clues about their identity and the crime, so do not touch anything that could be considered evidence. If a weapon has been left behind, stand guard to protect others but do not touch it either. Leave everything as you have found it.
- Contact security personnel – If you have a security department or have outsourced this to a dedicated firm, they will need to be made aware of the incident as soon as possible. If you choose response alarms and mobile patrols from Access Facilities Management, we will always strive to be there as quick as a flash for you.
- Collect video evidence – Do not view any video from surveillance or CCTV, as it is easy to jump to conclusions or be shocked by the footage. Instead, make the police aware that video of the incident does exist and pass it over to them. They can then review it to determine if it is valuable evidence in case of a prosecution or to help identify suspects beforehand.
- Keep information to yourself – With high profile incidents, there may be a fair amount of attention from the press. However, do not give any information away before speaking to the police, as this could be detrimental to the investigation process and even impact upon a successful prosecution in the future.
Hopefully, your workforce will never have to experience a break-in or robbery. But if something like this does happen, it is important that all members of staff know what to do and how to react appropriately.
Robberies and close encounters with criminals can be a traumatic event for employees, customers and members of the general public. It is your responsibility as a business to provide help when required, but remember that a GP or Victim Support unit is always on hand for further assistance if it should be required.
