Content area
Full Text
Convenience stores experience security problems ranging from loitering and shoplifting to armed robbery. The parent companies of these franchises are faced with the constant need for more effective security products. In the case of Circle K Corporation, based in Phoenix, Arizona, a new way to fight crime was brought to its attention by local law enforcement personnel.
In August 1993, David Adamson, loss prevention specialist for Circle K, was approached by the Sacramento, California, Sheriffs Department to test a new automatic emergency phone system in five Circle K stores that experience high rates of criminal activity. It was hoped the product, the Mainstreet Messenger, manufactured by Elcombe Systems, Ltd., of Kanata, Ontario, would provide convenience store operators with the ability to notify their private monitoring companies or 911 instantaneously and clandestinely in the event of an armed robbery. The company agreed to test it.
The Mainstreet Messenger originated as a safety product for the elderly. It is a telephone with over-sized keys and a panic button that is programmed by the user to dial four self-selected emergency notification numbers in sequence. The unit has a highly-sensitive,...