How to Secure Your Quick-Service Restaurant

A good security plan layers in basic security measures and technology.

By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 11/1/2008

Security consultant Chris McGoey says QSRs should use a combination of basic security measures and technology to keep both employees and customers safe.

Quick-service restaurants are more prone to crime than any other foodservice segment, according to security consultant Chris McGoey of Los Angeles-based McGoey Security Consulting. They are primarily a cash-based business, are open late at night, employ a lot of young people and often operate in high-risk areas. Yet he says they are behind the times when it comes to basic security technology. "I see many of the fast-food restaurants just have old equipment, old worn-out technology," he says.

McGoey says QSRs should use a combination of basic security measures and technology to keep both employees and customers safe. "In a fast-food place, you have to build layers to your security plan," he says.

Deposit money in time-delayed safes. They dispense cash in small bills and increments and are programmed to delay dispensing another batch of cash for a certain number of minutes. "[If] a robber comes in, the manager can activate the safe and it will open, but it might take several minutes to open," McGoey explains. "The theory is, robbers aren't going to stand around for several minutes waiting to get access to the safe."

Don't accept large bills such as $100 and $50 bills. It allows the unit to operate with a smaller amount of cash on hand.

Invest in a digital video surveillance system. Analog systems typically have poor-quality images and limited search functions (fast forward and rewind). Digital surveillance systems have more storage capacity, motion-sensor cameras that film only when activity occurs, and better search capabilities such as locating a specific time of day or transaction. Some can also generate reports to alert managers to out-of-the-ordinary activities such as the back door being left open.

Place video cameras to deter robbery, not just employee theft. QSRs often direct cameras at employees to ensure they are productive and honest. However, cameras should also be aimed at customers at the entrances, across the front counter, and at the drive-thru window and menu board.

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The drive-thru should have bullet-proof glass and self-closing and self-locking windows, which close and lock automatically between transactions. "Some of these drive-thru windows that have been there for 20 years, a large man can climb right through it," McGoey says. "It just creates a huge vulnerability for a restaurant and the employees inside that have to open the window to exchange money and pass out food."

Place the drive-thru at the front of the restaurant. Older restaurants usually have the drive-thru at the back of the building, where it is dark, remote and least visible. By having the drive-thru at the front, the employees and customers are visible from the street and to customers inside the restaurant.

Program 911 into the phone's speed dial. Panic buttons are not effective, McGoey says, because of the substantial delay involved in alerting the police. When a panic button is used, the signal goes to a central alarm station, rather than the police. The central alarm station calls the restaurant to find out if the signal was a false alarm or not before it calls the police. Instead of installing a panic button, McGoey suggests programming 911 into a phone with a speaker. That way an employee can simply push the 911 button, allowing the dispatcher to listen in during the robbery.

Have an alarm system wired into a cell phone backup line. When an alarm is triggered, it will try to alert police through the restaurant's landline. But if the landline is cut or disabled, the alarm will dial out automatically on a cell phone line.

Conduct criminal background checks online. "It's very easy, very inexpensive now," McGoey says. "A lot of public data is available online. Criminal record research is available online."

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