There have been several instances of civil unrest recently due to various social issues the United States has faced.
Business owners are left with no option but to use lethal weapons and extreme force to defend and protect their property.
Rioting and violence make good TV, we often see images of business owners arming themselves and writers violently and aimlessly breaking into businesses and stores.
However much business owners have the right to protect their businesses, they face substantial liabilities in deterring rioters using lethal weapons.
We have seen stores such as Walmart boarding up their windows to prevent rioters from breaking in and Home Depot hiring extra guards during protests.
It seems that the best course of action that businesses are employing is to tighten the security measures.
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So what is the best way business owners can deter rioters from breaking or destroying the businesses?
Let us take a look at some of the measures that you should take into consideration to deter rioters from breaking into your business and what you need to do in any case you encounter them.
- Examine your property for vulnerabilities.
The biggest part of preparing for emergencies such as riots and looting is to assess your business and point out its weaknesses.
Keenly examine all aspects of your business, from the surrounding, the parking lot, the alleys, your windows, the doors, everything.
Take a count of everything and evaluate the amount of risk each entity poses in case of a riot.
Get a good understanding of the gaps and vulnerabilities your business possesses.
This will give you a better understanding of what needs to be done or what you need to upgrade to make your business bulletproof from rioters and looters.
With this, you can easily put security measures in place and see how you can improve the state of your business.
- Always remove cash and valuables from the premises.
Removing all your cash and merchandise from your store beforehand will go a long way in minimizing the losses you will incur.
Make sure all the items of value are out of the premises immediately you get word of uprising riots.
This is a good tactic to ensure that in any case, people break into your store, they will not find a lot of things of any value.
Put a poster that there is nothing of value in the store.
This will not act as an absolute deterrent to the rioters but some of them, who are in a hurry to lose, might skip your store due to the sign.
They will assume that you have already taken out things of value from the store so they will try not to waste their time there.
- Avoid confronting rioters by yourself.
Although the desire to thwart rioters and looters by protecting your business from them might be big it is not advisable to do so.
You require the proper tools and training to do so to safely protect your business.
You might end up getting seriously injured by the rioters or injure one of the rioters yourself.
No property or merchandise is worth someone’s life. If you stir up confrontations this will only attract more rioters which will be bad for you.
If you injure one of the rioters or even kill them, you might easily run into legal issues yourself.
Since you do not have the correct training or tools, it is wise to hire a temporary security guard to protect your property in the meantime.
Trained security guards have the tools and training to deter rioters safely, they are equipped with knowledge and composer to de-escalate threats and conduct themselves with composers.
- Contact your local authority.
Contact your local authorities including the police, firemen, or city officials for guidance and direction in any case you face such a situation.
Your local authority can guide you on the best way to go about the issue correctly.
Conclusion.
It is not advisable to take matters into your own hands.
Planning ahead of time for such an incident is important, you will be better equipped with knowledge and resources on how to handle the situation.
Train your employees how to go about such situations where rioters invade your business.
Look for security contractors; this depends on the complexity of your business, to go about how you will handle the situation in case of a riot.