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Business Watch: Sheriff's Office implements program to keep businesses in the know for local crime
The night of Oct. 16, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office received a call from a man claiming to have been robbed at gunpoint behind the Harris Teeter grocery store in Ashbrook Commons Plaza. The victim told deputies someone with a gun took his wallet and struck him and then fled. It was a little before 11 p.m.
Nari Man, owner of Moby Dick House of Kabob -- six doors down from the Harris Teeter – would have liked to have known about it. “My gosh, that is exactly when I got out,” he said the next morning.
Man now has the ability to be informed, via e-mail or mobile phone, as soon as a crime happens in the county by signing up for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Business Watch Program that began this month. The program is mirrored after the Neighborhood Watch Program.
“This is the perfect thing,” Man said about being notified of a crime. “I had no idea something happened.”
Caroline Haddad, owner of Zazu, a stationery and gift boutique in Ashbrook Commons Plaza, said she did know of the incident, but only because a firefighter she knows received an alert and informed her of it by e-mail Friday morning.
“This is a fabulous idea,” she said about the Business Watch Program, adding that right now there is no real communication among business owners in the retail complex.
Deputy Spc. James Spurlock, a Sheriff's Office Crime and Prevention specialist, began the Business Watch Program, which was launched this month in conjunction with National Crime Prevention Month.
“This is to help business owners network with each other because one business does not necessarily know of other business's crimes,” he said.
Along with alerting recipients, the program also will offer educational classes focusing on counterfeit currency, robbery prevention and identifying suspicious persons, check fraud and seasonal fraud.
One fact some business owners might not know but will learn through the program is that credit card companies require businesses to check user identification when a customer uses a credit card. If fraud is found and the business did not check identification, the business can be held partially liable for lost money.
“This time [of year], businesses tend to see more crime because of the holidays,” Spurlock said. “There might be an influx of stolen checks and credit cards.”
To sign up for the Loudoun County Sheriff Department's Business Watch program, go to www.loudoun.gov and click on “Alert Loudoun.” The service is free.
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