Best Practices to Prevent an Active Shooter in Retail Facilities
Keeping employees, visitors, and other building occupants safe is a top priority for any retail establishment. Because of this, regardless of the likelihood of its occurrence in any particular facility, every store should have a plan for preventing and responding to active shooters.
If you have not yet developed a plan, here are some best practices for preventing and responding to active shooters.
Best Practices to Prevent an Active Shooter in Retail Facilities
Background Checks
While it is impossible to perform background checks on customers and vendors, it is important to perform background checks on employees as part of the hiring process. This can help rule out candidates with questionable backgrounds.
Implement an Awareness Policy
Studies show that most shooters give some indication of their plans before an event. Educate employees on how to look for signs of distress and provide a way to make others aware of that distress.
Provide Counseling
By providing counseling you provide a way for issues to be defused before escalation.
Equip Your Retail Premises with Physical Security Solutions
When considering physical security technologies for your retail business, consider the five elements of security; Deter, Detect, Deny, Delay, and Defend. Apply physical security technologies to protect the property starting at the perimeter. Today’s commercial physical security technologies
Consider technologies including:
- Access Control to prevent infiltration or isolate a threat
- CCTV/Video Surveillance to deter violence and monitor activities
- Intrusion Detection to prevent or detect infiltration attempts
- Communication Systems to help control access and communicate instructions in an emergency
Provide Emergency Training
Train key personnel on how to respond in an emergency and implement store-wide emergency response drills. The more often these drills are performed, the more likely you can execute a safe response in an emergency.
For more information about commercial security solutions, call SSP today! 1-888-540-0175