Crime Prevention in the Days of the Cowboys

During the California Gold Rush, more than 150 years ago, stagecoach robberies were plaguing a silver mine. So they started casting the silver into 400-pound blocks. These blocks were too heavy for a bandit on horseback, or even a gang of them, to carry off.

It may not be practical for stores to remove what is attractive to criminals because often these are the same things that are attractive to honest customers. So how do you display your products so customers can see them, but at the same time make them less attractive to thieves?

Think about what makes something an attractive target to thieves. It is something than can be easily taken away, can benefit the thief in some way, and can be stolen with little risk of being caught.

In the next example, the target has been made less attractive because there is no good reason for the thief to steal it. Click here to see this example.

---