With the festive season approaching, Parkview police are urging the community and business owners to be more vigilant.
Already police are experiencing several incidents of business robberies, and intelligence-driven operations have been started as proactive measures to prevent and deal with criminal activity in the Parkview policing areas.
Business owners should make sure that all their employees and contractors are screened, as some of the armed robberies in businesses are taking place through information.
“Very few organised armed robbers, if any, will risk their lives or face the risk of being apprehended if they are not well informed and know exactly when the cash is available and where it is stored,” said Parkview police spokesperson Sergeant Lloyd Ramovha.
By following preventative measures set out by police, business armed robberies may be reduced.
Ramovha has offered the following tips to business owners:
Opening and closing procedure:
- Never open or close your store at exactly the same time every day
- Try not to follow the same route to your store every day
- Never open the store on your own
- Ensure that someone, armed with a panic button, monitors the opening and closing procedure a short distance away from the store.
Safety:
- Ensure that you have an adequately fortified drop safe
- Ensure the keys to the drop safe are not kept ton the premises except when cash collections are taking place.
Cash collection:
- Ensure that cash is continuously removed from the tills throughout the day
- The cash office must continuously count and drop the cash into the drop safe
- Cash-ups must be staggered, and not done in one go
- Never do full a cash-up at the end of the trading day.
Details: Parkview Police Station 011 486 5000.
