Town of Munster Indiana

• Keep your wallet, keys, purse, and other valuables with you at all times or locked in a drawer or closet.  Employers also will sometimes provide lockers for their employees.  If they do, make sure that yours is locked at all times.  Unfortunately, you cannot always place your trust in your co-workers.
• Report individuals to police or management who appear to frequent the business often without buying anything, or who make you feel uncomfortable with their words or actions.
• Inform management if one of your co-workers seems especially agitated or makes comments about violence against the business.
• Walk out to your car with a co-worker or friend.  Talk to neighboring businesses about closing at the same time if possible so that everyone is walking out together at the end of the work day.
• If you see someone sitting in a vehicle or hanging around outside the business who appears to be suspicious, do not approach them to ask what they are doing.  Call the police and let them handle it.  Call the police if you need an escort to your vehicle if you feel uneasy about exiting your business.
• Let the police department know if one of your employees has an active restraining or protective order against another person and provide them with a copy of the order.  Also inform the police if there are any threats of violence by that person against the employee or business and ask for extra patrol if necessary.

ROBBERY, BURGLARY, AND SHOPLIFTING DETERRENTS

• Join the Munster Business Crime Watch Program and get to know your business neighbors.  Read and distribute the Munster Business Crime Watch Weekly Report to your employees.  This will keep them informed about recent crime activity and prevention methods relative to the business community.
• Say "hello" to patrons entering your business.  By doing so, it lets them know that you are alert and that you have noticed their face.
• Change the way that you do bank drops, and do not store the money in obvious bank bags that robbers can see from afar.  If your store handles a great deal of money on a daily basis, think about the cost of using an Armored Truck service. 
• Install a surveillance system in your business and, if possible, install a monitor near the front door showing patrons that enter your business exactly what the camera is recording.  This is an excellent deterrent as potential criminals will know that their faces have been recorded.  Post a sign at the front door and at the counter letting potential criminals know that the business has recording devices.
• Hang other signs of deterrence in the front of the store, such as ones that read "Free Ride in a Squad Car" if they are caught shoplifting.  Maintain a strict policy against shoplifters and always prosecute.  Don't just ask for the items to be returned.  Word will get around that your store has a lax policy and it will lead to further problems.
• Do not have only one clerk on duty.  This displays an easier target for criminals.
• Make your business easy to see in and out by the counter clerk.  Do not hang up large amounts of signage in the windows or put display racks in front of them.  This prevents people outside from seeing that you are in trouble.
• Arrange your aisles so that patrons' activities are not hidden from the counter clerk.  If this is not possible, install anti-shoplifting mirrors.
• Place more expensive items towards the back of the store.  Store especially expensive items in a locked area and use empty display boxes.
• Install a burglar alarm and a panic alarm for your employees in case of a robbery.  If you have only one or two employees working at a time, provide at least one of them with a silent alarm that they can wear around their neck or in their pocket.  Contact a reputable alarm company for details on their services.
• If you are being robbed, stay calm.  Do not fight with the robber or try to be a "hero".  Items and money can be replaced.  Your life cannot be.
• If your store is robbed, do not touch anything and keep patrons inside the store who were present for witness purposes.  Call the police and provide them with as much detail as possible.  Close the store at that time and do not let anyone else in to contaminate the crime scene.
• Check on your fellow businesses often by waving or by phone calls.  If you see something suspicious going on outside your business or that of one of your neighbors, call the police immediately.  No matter how insignificant it might be, you could help prevent a crime from occurring.