Employee Conduct During Robbery

In the event of a robbery, it is important to minimize the risk to each employee, to customers, and to law enforcement. It is also important to improve the chances of apprehending the suspects. Therefore, all employees should follow certain guidelines:

• Avoid actions which might increase danger to themselves or to others, such as, screaming, attempting to reach alarms, obviously studying the suspect, or not following instructions.
• Safety permitting, observe, if possible, the robber's physical features, voice, accent, mannerisms, dress, the kind of weapon he/she has, and any other characteristics, which would be useful for identification.
• Protect any evidence which the perpetrator leaves behind. Refrain from handling such evidence and provide it to law enforcement when they arrive.
• Do not touch any item(s) which may have been handled by the robber(s).
• Safety permitting, observe the direction of the robber(s) escape and the description and license plate number of the vehicle, if any.
• If they have not yet arrived, call 911 or dial the local police. Also notify the business owner or senior manager if not present.
• Once the premises are secure, the robber(s) has left and it is safe to do so, one employee should keep a lookout for the police by waiting outside the business and inform arriving police that the robbers have left.
• Attempt to determine the names and adresses of other persons who witnessed the robbery or the escape. Request that they record their observations on paper and wait to discuss the situation with the police.
• Refrain from discussing the event with customers and other employees until you have discussed with the police and independently, or with police assistance, recorded observations about the robber(s).