CVS installs time-delayed safes to deter Indianapolis robberies

Following the lead of its competitor Walgreens, CVS has installed time-delayed safes in its pharmacies in the Indianapolis area in an effort to curb the increasing number of pharmacy robberies there.

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While pharmacy robberies are up throughout the state of Indiana, a disproportionate numbers of robberies this year have occurred at pharmacies in and around Indianapolis.

“In this particular case we know it’s been a successful deterrent for other retailers. We studied it over the summer and determined it was the best thing for us to do at this time,” Michael Silveira, CVS’ vice president of loss prevention, toldWISH.

Silveira told the station that the safes have been installed in all of CVS’ 150 stores in the Indianapolis area. Pharmacists must activate the safes before they can gain access to controlled substances such as oxycodone.

“We have a number of different protocols that we employ and after studying and revisiting our protocols, we considered time delay and figured it was time to do it after careful study,” Silveira said.

Both CVS and Walgreens believe delaying access to controlled substances will deter some of the thieves, as the delay creates more time in which police can respond and increases the likelihood of criminals being caught.

“Potential robbers like to get in and get out as quickly as possible. With time-delay safes, we will not have access to our narcotic medications on demand,” Kara Williams, PharmD, CVS’ pharmacy supervisor for the Indianapolis district, told the station. “There will be a wait period, which we’ve seen through studies has been a significant deterrent.”

A Walgreens spokesman said that company has seen a decrease in pharmacy robberies at the locations where the time-delayed safes are used. Walgreens began using the safes at some of its locations in 2009.

“Robbers understand the longer they remain at a crime scene, the higher the likelihood they’ll get caught,” Phil Caruso, a Walgreens’ spokesperson, told Drug Topics. “They also understand the longer they stay, the more surveillance footage we have of them, which has been extremely beneficial to local authorities in identifying and arresting these criminals.”

Staff Pick: Walgreens installs time-delayed safer to deter robberies