Hair salons tend to see a lot of diverse clientele on a day-to-day basis. It is not possible for a hair stylist to know who is going to walk into the door. For this reason, an incident response plan is a must. A holdup alarm from CRS Notify is a great addition to an incident response plan for hair salons.

Why Use a Holdup Alarm in a Hair Salon?

Little known fact: many traditional holdup alarms for hair salons do not actually connect directly to the police. Most silent alarms contact either an internal security group or a third-party security company. The security personnel may either pull security footage or call the hair salon to assess the situation before actually contacting authorities. This delay could cause valuable time to be lost when trying to track down a robber. In the event of an emergency situation, every second matters.

A holdup alarm for hair salons would be especially helpful for several reasons. First, CRS Notify holdup alarms connect directly to 911 with the E911 platform integration. This cuts out the middleman and authorities are notified instantly of a high alert being raised. Ultimately, this would be helpful in trying to catch a robber as they leave the hair salon.

Secondly, our two-button wireless hardware devices have a range of 750 feet from the USB receiver. The wireless button is especially useful to employees that may not stay in the same spot at all times during a shift. If the employee feels threatened for whatever reason, they can discreetly raise a low alert to notify their colleagues to keep a lookout. If there is an imminent threat, the employee could quickly and discreetly raise a high alert to contact the police.

One recent case of workplace violence in a hair salon happened on October 12, 2011. Scott Dekraai opened fire on the Salon Meritage hair salon in Seal Beach, California. His ex-wife, who was involved in a custody dispute with the assailant, was employed at the salon. She and seven others were killed in the attack.

One of our unique features allows several computers within a building and campuses alike to be networked together. With a CRS Notify holdup alarm for hair salons, all people in the network will be notified if an alert has been raised. For example, if a high alert was raised from an employee in the store, their manager that is off-site could receive a text message about the situation just moments after the alert.

How to Avoid Robberies

First and foremost, the most significant thing that hair salon employees can do to deter robberies is to be aware of their surroundings. Even though the gesture may seem small, hair salon employees should greet and make eye contact with every customer that comes in the door. Robbers usually want to maintain anonymity. There have been many cases where just a simple greeting has deterred a robbery.

Employees should also be trained in spotting suspicious activity. Jeweler’s Mutual lists different suspicious behaviors that could be displayed by customers, including inquiries about security features or disguises. Either way, any suspicious activity should be reported to a supervisor as soon as possible.

Surveillance cameras are also a deterrent to robberies. Again, most robbers want to maintain anonymity. There have been many reported cases of a surveillance camera preventing a robber from robbing a hair salon.

Employees should keep in close adherence to company policy when it comes to the amount of cash in their drawers. Amounts should be kept as low as possible to be able to conduct business. Any excess cash should be locked away.

Incident Response Plans

Every hair salon should have an incident response plan in place that all employees are trained to follow. In addition to a holdup alarm for hair salons, incident response plans are critical to have in place.

The demands of a robber should always be followed. Many robbers do not want to draw attention to themselves. For the safety of employees and customers, the best course of action is to follow the demands of the robber.

A holdup alarm for hair salons is helpful when trying to catch a perpetrator after the fact. However, a holdup alarm should only be activated when it is safe to do so. In fact, many security and law enforcement personnel will advise that a holdup alarm for hair salons not be used until the robber has left the premises. A hostage situation could potentially be triggered if the robber happens to turn around and see police waiting on the other side of the door. Because robbers tend to want to leave as quickly as possible, the best course of action is to allow the robber to leave. This action will lessen potential victimization of those in the hair salon.

Those who were directly involved with the assailant and other witnesses should be isolated from each other as quickly as possible to fill out statements. Many law enforcement officials advise the separation so that everyone has an individual account of what happened. This way the recollection of the situation is not tainted with the statements of others.

Conclusion

In closing, a holdup alarm for hair salons would be beneficial in a robbery situation. An alert could be activated within moments of a robbery happening. Police would then be dispatched moments later. A holdup alarm for hair salons also cuts out the middleman when contacting emergency personnel. Instant notification prevents excessive time between alarm and dispatch. Hair salon employees can rest easy knowing that in the event of having to use a holdup alarm, the authorities will be there within moments.

Still Unsure About a Holdup Alarm?

Contact us for more information to make the best decision for your holdup alarm.

info@communityresponsesystems.com or 800-533-7201 M-F 8-5 pm CST