Creating a Halloween Security Plan

Sunday is Halloween, and while this holiday isn’t weed specific, Halloween conjures up a large increase in cannabis sales across the country. Halloween now has the third highest cannabis sales of any American holiday. As cannabis legalization continues to spread, cannabis sales and use during Halloween, or “Halloweed,” are increasing. In 2016, the state of Washington generated $2.11 million in cannabis sales on Halloween compared to $1.39 million the previous year.

This year, Halloween falls on a weekend so cannabis business owners should expect increased sales from Friday-Sunday, as well as the week leading up to Halloween. Some retailers are even hosting special events, offering discounted products, or increasing advertising in an effort to increase sales even more. While increases in sales and customers are great for business, if not managed correctly, they can pose a serious security risk for the business.

Managing an Increase in Sales

Dispensary management should ensure that the facility is well-staffed to accommodate the increase in sales. More employees and security personnel should be scheduled to conduct sales, assist customers, and enforce occupancy limits. Increasing the number of employees in the store not only produces better customer service, but also improves the dispensary’s security. Excellent customer service forces potential criminals to think twice before they decide to commit a crime.

Potential criminals look for opportunities that are fast, easy, and low risk. It is much more difficult for a customer to successfully shoplift if an employee is in the sales area greeting and assisting customers. Additionally, a fully-staffed sales area also deters employees from attempting to steal or discount products and increases the likelihood that such an attempt would be caught.

Ensuring the business is fully-staffed to prepare for the increase in sales should be an important part of any dispensary’s Halloween security plan. Since Halloween falls on a Sunday in 2021, dispensary management should expect higher sales throughout the weekend and should staff accordingly.

Managing an Increase in Customers

With the increase in sales comes an increase in customers – and a greater risk of becoming the victim of theft or diversion. The dispensary faces some of the greatest risks during busy shopping times when potential criminals take advantage of the chaos in the store. Dispensaries are at risk from both external theft from customers and internal theft from the dispensary’s own employees.

When the dispensary is at its busiest, customers may take advantage of all the activity and use it as an opportunity to shoplift. Similarly, employees may attempt to steal or discount cannabis for themselves or others. The best way to deter theft and diversion is to remove the opportunity. To prevent potential criminals from exploiting the business, dispensary managements should set occupancy limits for the facility as part of their Halloween security plan.

Occupancy limits for the dispensary may already be required by state/local regulations and should always be enforced. For dispensaries that typically do not impose limits, it is important to prevent the dispensary from becoming more crowded than management can control. When an occupancy limit is in effect, an employee or security guard should be placed at the entrance informing customers of the limit and allowing only the number of customers that can be handled by employees at one time into the dispensary.

In addition to employee schedules and occupancy limits, dispensary management should test all security and alarm devices to ensure they are in proper working order. Management should also review the security plan and signs of internal and external theft with employees. Halloween security measures aim to better protect the business and its employees and can be used on other holidays or whenever the dispensary is faced with increases in sales and customers.

Successful plans take a proactive approach to security. Proactive security seeks to prevent and deter crime by removing the opportunity for potential criminals. Dispensary management should ensure that they have established an occupancy limit and scheduled a sufficient number of employees for Halloween and the weekend preceding it. By preparing for and responding to increases in sales together, dispensary management and employees can prevent theft on one of the busiest sales days of the year

How Can Sapphire Risk Help?

Tony Gallo and the team at Sapphire Risk Advisory Group has over 30 years of security experience and expertise. Schedule a risk assessment with our security experts to ensure your cannabis security is efficient and effective. Follow us on social media to stay up to date with current cannabis security news and trends!