Security Guard Roles in the Cannabis Industry

Cannabis and medical marijuana businesses can be at higher risk of crime than “regular retail stores” since they carry copious amounts of cash along with products that are valuable and “readily resold.” Hiring trained and licensed security professionals is the answer many businesses have accepted to prevent crime and protect their goods, employees, and customers.

Roles for All Cannabis Business Security Guards

The presence of security guards ensures the customers’ faith in the reputation of the brand and improves their overall sense of safety in the store. The role of security guards changes depending on which part of the seed-to-sale process – and what type of business license – they handle protecting. Each stage of production has its own demands and unique risks, and guards must adapt to individual situations and be up to speed on all the relevant certifications, training, licensing, or installed security fixes.

Staples of the role include keeping an inquisitive eye by walking and monitoring the premises, communicating, and aiding customers/visitors, and acting as a physical deterrent to intruders. The ultimate goal of security guards in a cannabis business is to reduce the risk of potential theft or diversion. Whether the business is in the first stages of cultivation, up through manufacturing and processing, to full-on retail, which includes delivery and distribution, security guards can serve to increase security at a cannabis business.

Security Guard Responsibilities

Security Presence and Crime Deterrent

A security guard’s primary role is securing the premises and protecting all employees and customers/visitors during hours of operation. If they have a certificate in firearm training along with – in some states – the approval of the chief of police, they can be allowed to carry a weapon. They should establish a security presence that is peaceful and reassuring, allowing for normal operation. Guards take the responsibility of security off the shoulders of employees who then can be more comfortable and productive in their required job functions. Increasingly, individuals with military and law enforcement backgrounds are flocking to cannabis security guard positions and their experience and ability only bolster the facility they are protecting.

Moreover, their job is to physically deter unlawful activities such as loitering, suspicious and criminal behavior, theft, and diversion of cannabis. Though police should have the sole authority to engage with a threat, “thieves will think twice about targeting a business with uniform protection”.

Manage the Flow of Customers

Beyond protection, security guards are important to a retail operation. If stationed in the dispensary’s reception area, they can allow verify the identification of customers, visitors, patients, and caregivers and provide access to the retail area or direct them as necessary.

Unfortunately, Covid-19 has brought along new challenges to the cannabis industry and the role of cannabis industry security guards has not been immune to pandemic-required changes. Security guards are now sometimes instructed to regulate building occupancy and/or enforce temperature checks, masks, or social distancing as needed.

Monitor the Facility

By using video surveillance, security guards can conduct virtual external and internal patrols, monitor points of ingress and egress, and ensure individuals restricted to their authorized areas. Despite visual access to cannabis storage areas, security guards are typically not allowed access to cannabis unless escorted by management. Thus, security guards must keep a “watchful and vigilant eye” within their domain but acknowledge their own access limitations within the facility.

Conclusion

Ultimately, individual stores will have to develop Security Guard Post Orders to establish the exact duties and responsibilities of an on-shift guard. Additionally, security guards in the cannabis industry require training specific to the cannabis operation that likely differs from their roles in non-cannabis fields.

As cannabis security evolves, so will the expected level of training from private security guards. The role of security guards in the cannabis industry must be compliant with state and local laws, follow the demands of the operation, and be able to handle whatever unexpected situation is called to their attention.

How Can Sapphire Risk Help?

Tony Gallo and the team of experts and consultants at Sapphire Risk Advisory Group have worked to secure medical marijuana and recreational cannabis businesses in 36 states. Follow us on social media to stay up to date with more security best practices and cannabis industry updates!