September 14, 2023 – Seattle Cannabis Co. was burglarized early this morning by thieves who ran a vehicle into the entrance in a common method of burglarizing cannabis shops – the smash and grab.

Often, cannabis shops have enhanced security, often including roll down screens on windows and gates on their doors. These measures may make it easy to thwart a person, but they are hardly a match for a car.

If you are looking to enhance security, and to avoid the headache of dealing with a vehicle-based smash and grab, take some tips from large retailers. They often employ the use of bollards. You may have seen them in the form of concrete pillars every few feet in front of a business. At Target, they are cleverly disguised as large red spheres.

Bollards are specially designed to prevent cars from driving into storefronts:

“A bollard is a small post used installed & arranged to create a protective or architectural perimeter. When installed primarily as a visual guide, bollards guide traffic and mark boundaries. They come in a wide range of shapes and styles to accentuate or visually stand out in their settings. Bollards can also be made to physically block vehicle incursion, protecting pedestrians and property. These security bollards may have decorative elements, or be chosen to complement the landscape, but their main purpose is resistance to collisions & impacts.” – Rainier Asphalt and Concrete

In this case, the thieves utilized a stolen vehicle, which is common, and made off with merchandise. The target of the smash and grabs for marijuana establishments is usually the ATM within the premises or the merchandise inside. Sometimes, but not often, the parties are even able to access and abscond with the safe. Do not make it easy on the criminals. If you do, you will be spending your time dealing with insurance companies and construction companies, rather than doing what you do best – selling to your customers.

If you have any questions on assessing your store security, engaging security best practices, or security training for your employees from an HR Legal prospective, reach out to Gleam Law. We are here to help.