Business

Steps to Take If Your Business Was the Scene of a Violent Crime

Source: Pixabay

No one ever likes to think of witnessing a violent crime, but what happens if that crime was committed in your own business? In reality, you can never know exactly when danger might strike so there is often no way to prevent it. You can buy the most technologically advanced CCTV security system, even employ security guards, but that doesn’t mean that some disgruntled former employee or a drug crazed addict won’t show up with a loaded gun or a hunting knife and the intent of doing harm. What you can do is to be prepared in the event that violence is unavoidable.

Dial 911 When It’s Safe to Do So

One thing that many business owners or employees do is to try to call 911 before it is safe to do so. That could lead to further violence. If an armed robber, for example, is there within earshot of you in the same room, that could set off a shooting spree and that’s something you don’t want under any circumstances. Everything you do from here on out is based on safety, from calling for rescue to getting back in after the fact to begin cleaning the mess. In fact, the safest way to approach cleanup from trauma if anyone was injured would be to hire a professional certified biohazard cleaning team. But, that comes much later.

Ascertain If Anyone Needs Immediate Medical Help

Once you believe it is safe to call for police and medical assistance, that really is the first thing you should do. If the perpetrator has left the business, you should try to see if anyone has been injured, needing an ambulance on scene. They will come anyway with the police, but if you stress that someone was injured, they may even get there before law enforcement.

Find Out When You Can Reopen Your Business

You should also know that it may be days before you can reopen your business, depending on the level of violence and the number of injuries sustained during the event. Sometimes you can open your doors again the next day and other times law enforcement may need additional time to examine the scene of the crime. This is going to be especially so if anyone was injured. Your business may be closed off with the standard yellow tape, but once that’s removed, you can probably go back in to begin getting things back in order.

Public Health is a Key Consideration

As a final note, you may not realize just how important that biohazard cleanup team can be. In some cities you will not be allowed to reopen if there were any types of biohazards like blood to be concerned with. Public health officials will probably need to give the okay to open those doors. If you have used a professional team that has been certified in biohazard cleanup, it will probably be a quick, straightforward process. If you try to do it yourself, you might be in for a real test of your patience. It is for the public health, after all, so this is a vitally important step after a trauma and exposure to potentially infectious biohazards.

Here’s hoping you aren’t victimized by violence in your place of business, but if you are, these are the steps to take.

About the author

Saman Iqbal

Saman is a law student. She enjoys writing about tech, politics and the world in general. She's an avid reader and writes fictional prose in her free time.







Daily Newsletter