Safety and Security in the Workplace and Online Topic of Latest Stoughton Chamber Meeting

At last week’s Stoughton Chamber of Commerce Meeting, Stoughton Police officer Brian Holmes posed a question to the business owners and managers in attendance and asked them to raise their hands if they had ever reported a crime at their store or office.

About half the room said they had.

Texas Roadhouse in Brockton hosted February’s Chamber Meeting, where Officer Holmes and Executive Officer Devine of the , Barry Greene of Providing Excellence through Technology and Bernie Planeta of Planet Security discussed safety and security in the workplace.

Executive Officer Devine and Officer Holmes said crime is a combination of desire, ability and opportunity. They suggested some common sense, yet useful tips for helping to cut down on the opportunity for crime, which in essence will cut down on the desire and ability to commit a crime.

• Lock doors, windows and exterior entrances.

• Have customers use one entrance and exit.

• Have constant supervision of the sales floor.

• Encourage non-cash transactions.

• Limit posters on store windows that block the view of the store from the outside.

• Keep the store well lit.

• Keep expensive merchandise in the back of the store.

• Make sure security cameras are functional and are positioned to see customer’s faces (especially at bank tellers’ windows).

Devine said the biggest deterrent for shoplifting is a helpful and attentive staff. He used the staff at Best Buy as an example. When it comes to preventing shoplifting, Devine emphasized to look at what customers wear and how they act, not what/who they are—don’t profile.

Holmes and Devine also advised not publicizing how much money your business made on a given day or week (could tip people off to how much cash you have on hand) and to have more than one employee working per shift.

As for possible cases of employee theft, Devine and Holmes said to perform background checks and to check for large number of void sales or returns.

Devine and Holmes said you are not bothering the police department by calling them and to report a crime immediately.

Barry Greene followed up the Stoughton Police Department’s presentation with a presentation of his own regarding computer security. Greene said to have a good virus scanner, maintain backup files and use common sense.

Just installing a quality virus scanner doesn’t help you, Greene said—you have to update it and use it consistently. He also suggested keeping a backup server in a different physical location than the main server. If something physically happens to the server room, having the backup server in the same room doesn’t help, he said.

In terms of common sense, Greene said to make sure e-mails look legitimate before opening them. He said that you wouldn’t let strangers into your house, and likewise you shouldn’t let strange emails or files into your system.

He also said not to provide information you wouldn’t normally give online; this could be an indication of a potential scam.

Greene said that taking some of these common sense measures could help to prevent viruses from popping up on your computer.

The Chamber’s next monthly meeting is on Monday, March 7 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the . The Topic of Discussion is slated to be the “Business of Sports.”

For a more comprehensive understanding of workplace safety and security, take a look at the Stoughton Police Department’s Crime Prevention Slideshow in the media gallery above.