Recreational marijuana is legal in nine states and medical marijuana is legal in 29 states. Most marijuana dispensaries are forced to be cash-only, making them prime targets for violent robberies.
Crime statistics concerning legal dispensaries are hard to come by as the industry expands, and, understandably, operators are reluctant to talk about how much cash they can have on hand. But in a late-night Seattle dispensary break-in last year, for example, thieves got away with $100,000 in cash, police said.
Cambridge Security Services is committed to providing the best trained security officers, to ensure our customers, their employees and guests are safe. In accordance with that commitment, our Training and Development Team held a two-day training seminar last week in our Las Vegas Branch office. Every Officer assigned to a dispensary account attended this training.
The training covered the following 8 key areas:
• Policy Review
• Overview of Dispensary Robberies/Case Studies
• 5 Phases of Robberies/Attacks
• Suspicious Behavior Identification
• Mindset Preparation
• Physiology and Stress
• Survival
• Hands-on Training
David D’Arcy, the head of Training and Development said, “Dispensaries are taking proactive measures to increase their security. Criminals know that and are evolving. Dispensary robberies are becoming increasingly violent and better coordinated. Simply posting a uniformed officer in these facilities may not make dispensary employees and guests any safer. These officers have to be handpicked and highly trained. They have to understand the dynamic risks of working at a dispensary and how to mitigate them. That’s where my team comes in.”
For more information on securing your dispensary or grow facility, call 844-GUARDU2.
