Safe Talk

Here are a couple of helpful hints to think about when assessing your likelihood of being robbed in your home or business. For full manual, please download the PDF from Safe and Vault Store.com

THE NEIGHBORHOOD ENVIRONMENT:
Focus on the “big picture” and some of the deterrence measures that can be taken based on the neighborhood surroundings.
Enlist cooperation and support from your community. Become sensitive to your community’s attitudes. Contact representatives from city departments such as:
• ? Parks
• ? Streets
• ? Police
• ? Lighting
• ? Youth group organizers
Working with your community and increasing your awareness of robbery deterrence procedures will help make your stores safer and improve industry image.

PEDESTRIAN ACTIVITY
In general, high activity areas are less prone to robberies. Assess the quantity and type of traffic, times of high and low activity and the potential for increasing traffic and activity.
Pedestrians, as well as cruising patrol cars, should have clear visibility into the store both during the day and especially at night.
It would be to the store’s advantage to have a pay telephone nearby for pedestrian use should someone notice trouble within the store. The phone should also be situated so a potential robber would not be able to monitor the activities of the employee on duty while using the phone.

VISIBILITY AND LIGHTING
It is important to provide as much visibility as possible into your store from the street and to provide visibility from the inside of the store to the outside. The important point is that there should be visibility from the register area to the street. This involves an assessment of your lighting and the visibility it provides both during the day and at night.
For instance, shrubs or trees sometimes obstruct the path of a floodlight. Sometimes trees cast shadows over your lot at different times of the year. Look for such obstacles in your lot.

BUILDING AND PARKING LOT SECURITY
Some retail store operators use some security measures which could slow a robberi?s escape. Such measures could deter a robbery as well.
For instance, some stores fence their premises on three sides to slow a robber escaping around the side of the store. Some stores allow parking only directly in front of their stores, so an escape vehicle would have to be parked directly in front of the store. Some stores have just one exit out of the parking lot, and some have speed bumps in the parking lot.

ROBBERY DETERRENCE SIGNAGE Robbery deterrence signage, stickers, decals, etc. are available to let customers and potential robbers know what a store is doing to deter robbery. For instance, placing a height measure by an exit door helps witnesses determine the height of a fleeing robber. Also, to publicize a low cash policy, cards that reads “no 20s” or “no 50s” can be placed in the cash register drawer. These cards also remind the employee that large amounts of cash go directly into the safe.
But remember, whatever signage you have in place, make sure it is telling a true story. Do not post signage which is not true.
More details on robbery deterrence signage are in the additional resources section of this manual.

Most robbers you hear about are usually bumbling fools – down on their luck, just looking to make a quick buck. But back in the day there were some seriously inspired robbers – we’ve seen movies about them, read books, and now I have a great list for you of the top ten heist stories . Now, I know that we’re here to help you protect your home or business from robbers like these, but sometimes when you see the creativity, ingenuity, and sheer amount of planning that went into these heists, you can’t help but root for the bad guy. Take a look:

The Great Train Robbery: In 1963, a mail train was transporting millions of British pounds. It was boarded by a team of 15 robbers — the thieves used a fake signal light to stop the train and subsequently stole 120 mail bags containing 2.6 million pounds. The men all escaped the scene, but 13 of them were eventually captured following an investigation by authorities.

The Agricultural Bank of China Robbery: Agricultural Bank of China manager, Ren Xiaofeng, stole 200,000 yuan from the vault. He planned to use the money to buy tons of lottery tickets with the hopes of striking it rich & returning the money before it was noticed. Somehow….the plan worked and he returned the 200,000 yuan in full. His error came next – after his success, he tried again and again stealing approximately 51 million yuan ($7 million) in two subsequent thefts. This time the lottery tickets didn’t pay off and they couldn’t return the cash to the vault. Clearly, the error was noticed and the manager was captured.

The Great Brinks Robbery: In 1950 this was the biggest heist in American history. An 11 people team was assembled to copy keys and break into the Brinks building. Once inside the team found a room where people were counting the bank’s money. They managed to take $1.2 million in cash and another $1.5 million in bonds. The original plan was to sit on the money for 6 years until the Statute of Limitations ran out and they wouldn’t be able to be prosecuted. Their plans ran awry when the police caught a whiff and the robbers began to turn on one another. All were eventually caught and convicted.

The Gardner Museum Art Heist: Two men wearing police uniforms conned their way into the museum late one night in 1990. They managed to subdue the security guards on duty and then proceeded to steal several very famous art works by Rembrandt, Degas, Manet and Vermeer without capture. Still to this day, neither of the thieves nor the artworks have been recovered. The works, valued at over $500 million, mark the most successful and mysterious heist of all time.

Central Bank of Iraq Heist: In the middle of the night, a small group of men led by Saddam Hussein’s son Qusay went to the bank with tractor trailors and forcibly stole just under $1 BILLION (yes, with a B) in cash. More than half of this was eventally found stuffed into the walls of Hussein’s palace by US soldiers. No one knows what happened to the rest of the money nor the other men in the heist.

Baker Street Burglary: In London in 1971, a team of thieves tunneled into the Baker Street Bank and stole 3 million pounds worth of cash and valuables from safety deposit boxes. The thieves managed to tunnel to the vault from a nearby shop with the use of heavy equipment. As the heist was finishing up, someone overheard the look-out and reported the heist to the police – but did not know the exact location nor the bank that was being robbed, only that a robbery was occurring. The police frantically searched over seven hundred banks in the area. They were unable to catch the robbers before the heist was complete. Everyone got away.

Harry Winston Heist: a group of four men stormed into one of Paris’s most exclusive jewelry stores, Harry Winston, and made off with $108 million in diamonds. The men entered the store dressed as women and armed guns. They broke open display cases and filled a suitcase with precious stones and made their successful escape. No one from this robbery has been arrested.

Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery: In London in 1987 career criminal Valerio Viccei and a small group of accomplices armed with guns managed to make off with 60 million pounds in valuables and cash from safe deposit boxes. The thieves entered the vault to access their own safe deposit box of their own but once inside managed to subdue the security guards and make off with many boxes full of valuables. Police eventually managed to connect the heist with famed Italian criminal Valerio Viccei with the use of a blood sample.

Banco Central Heist: In 2005 in Fortaleza, Brazil a small gang of burglars tunneled over 250 feet to the bank’s vault from a nearby property. The robbers used a landscaping business as a front, which allowed them to openly move massive amounts of dirt and rock out of the tunnel without raising question. After three months of digging, the thieves reached into the vault and stole over 165 million in Brazilian reals ($70 million). Police have caught some of the robbers but a majority still remain at large.

Antwerp Diamond Heist: As the diamond capital of the world Antwerp, Belgium has seen its fair share of robberies. In 2003, a team of criminals stole $100 million in uncut diamonds from the Antwerp Diamond Center vault. The robbers managed to bypass the vault’s multi-million dollar security system, which had been thought to be impenetrable. The thieves escaped without incident, but DNA at the scene helped police track and apprehend several of the gang. None of the diamonds have been recovered.

Pretty crazy stuff right? Makes me, for one, glad that I don’t have to protect $100 million worth of diamonds.

Earning money takes one a lot of hard work, time and effort. For this reason, protecting one’s money is very important to both home owners and businesses, alike. There is no better way to protect this money than by keeping it securely locked inside a depository safe. These safes are a valuable asset to any business, whether that business is large or small. Depository safes are safes that allow a person to deposit money into and withdraw money from the safe without actually opening it.
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Obtaining a floor safe for your business is a good sound decision. It can provide maximum security for your business papers, agreements, asset lists and valuables in the case of burglary or fire. It is out of sight, very hard to remove from the premises, and being in the floor it is not susceptible to flames. It is not without its drawbacks, however, and some considerations should be made.

The typical considerations are: installation expense, inaccessibility and sometimes, these safes are prone to water damage in the case of a fire. It’s good to plan ahead for a wall safe, as installation is a major consideration, unless done at the time of construction. Also, if your business is located in structure with multiple floors, you will need to check for post tensioned slab construction as they cannot be installed in such a location. If you are planning to use the safe a great deal, understand that it is hard to access. You may consider an electronic lock to make it easier with the added feature of allowing a change of combination without the expense of a locksmith. Also, since floor safes are not waterproof any belongings put in should be sealed from moisture.

There are a number of things to look for in a purchase. The biggest thing to consider is the integrity of the safe. Steel is heavy and expensive. Without the proper thickness of the cladding material, the door can be opened with an ordinary crow bar. Be especially careful when purchasing anything made outside of your country as the shipping on a safe with a half inch front cladding and a quarter inch side cladding inhibits many foreign companies from using a proper thickness of steel. Also be careful of the lock, always insist on a UL approved, Group 2 lock or better. A cheap lock can render your safe useless and be expensive to repair, even to the point of having to have the safe forced open and replaced.

A floor safe can bring peace of mind, and offer security in case the unthinkable happens. Just follow some simple guidelines, make sure what you purchase is a well constructed product.

There are five important issues to think about when choosing in-wall safes in your home for an office business. These are fire class rating, method of opening the safe, size, cost and brand of the safe. Cost is always a factor and will vary depending on the other factors that will be discussed below. (more…)

For both families and businesses alike, keeping ones cash and valuables is an extremely important matter. Keeping these valuables safe and secure in an electronic safe will bring peace of mind to anyone. By determining ones needs and researching the available options, one will find a safe to suit his or her needs. (more…)

You have worked hard to build up your business and earn a profit. That is not an easy task and you want to protect those earnings as best you can. Because of this, the safety of your assets is a high priority for you and your business. There are few better concrete ways to protect your assets than with depository safes. These safes are not intended for use solely for personal wealth and are commonly found in businesses for a variety of purposes.
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It continually amazes me that after over 20 years in the security business, people visit our store and tell us that they have been burglarized for the third time. Call it bad luck but it keeps us in business. (more…)

A robbery is one of the most serious and potentially dangerous crimes committed in the United States today. A robber commits a holdup because he or she believes that their profit will be worth the risk. Statistics show that criminal activity is increasing at an alarming rate especially armed robbery. Each year, thousands of people are victims of this crime and many are attacked violently. Using these tips, you can help reduce the possibility of retail store armed robbery and protect the safety of employees and customers. (more…)

Protecting records against fire. No matter how advanced our data storage methods become fire will always be public enemy number one. The other day I was rummaging through some older files around my office and ran across a very in depth description of the specifications and requirements for fire resistive vault construction.
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