Truck Thieves

Jul 1, 1997 12:00 PM, By GEORGE PARTINGTON

As thieves continue to hit armored cars at grocery stores, one chain is fighting back. In January 1995, an armored car robbery in a Wegmans grocery store parking lot left an armored courier employee wounded and one of the suspects dead.

Unfortunately, such violent incidents are on the rise, according to a survey of four major armored car operators by the National Armored Car Association. The survey recorded 58 armored car robbery attempts in 1996; 11 of them occurred during transactions at grocery stores, the second highest number of attempts by location after financial institutions. Total losses from robberies for 1996 were $4,186,908, according to the survey. The average loss per incident was $73,454.

Brian Scanlon, director of loss prevention/security for Wegmans, Rochester, N.Y., did not need the statistics to tell him that something needed to be done to combat the growing problem.

"When you have one of these unfortunate incidents, not only is the armored car crew in jeopardy, but your employees and your customers are just as much in jeopardy as anybody else," says Scanlon, who oversees security for the grocery store chain's 54 stores in New York and Pennsylvania.

Soon after the January 1995 attempt, Scanlon and other Wegmans security personnel began working with Armored Motor Service of America to find a solution. Their efforts came to fruition with the "truck trap," a holding room attached to the store. The room has a roll-up door the size of the back door of an armored truck. The truck backs up until it is flush with pads that line the doorway. Armored car couriers then enter the holding room through the truck's back door. Once inside, Sensormatic CCTV cameras and Aiphone intercoms allow accounting office personnel to verify the identity of the courier by comparing the live image to a photo ID. Only then do they release the Sentrol magnetic locks on the door to a vestibule area and conduct the necessary business. At no time is the courier exposed to customers or the general public.

Truck traps are in operation at the two newest Wegmans, in Buffalo, N.Y., and Erie, Pa., and were part of the construction plan. The truck trap will be part of the design of all future stores as well, says Scanlon.

As for older stores, layout and other concerns can prevent a retrofit. "We would be interested in other ideas out there as to how to retrofit existing stores where maybe this concept won't work because of the way the store is laid out," says Scanlon. In fact, the security director is currently getting ideas from a company in England and one in Dublin, Ireland. The Irish company is using a gravity tube for money transfers.

Scanlon has presented his innovation at the Loss Prevention and Security Conference of the Food Marketing Institute in Scottsdale, Ariz., and at the National Armored Car Association Conference in San Diego. The reception has been positive and many have requested photos and blueprints. "All we are doing is trying to share the idea because everybody benefits from it," says Scanlon.

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