3 Under-the-Radar Ways to Make Your Store a Hard Target

Next, I want to provide you with some really good value, especially if you happen to own a small business. But I will say that even if you don't own a small business, I believe everything that we're about to talk about today can also be used inside of your home. To preface it, I'll say this. In 2020, we saw those riots that swept through many big cities. And during those riots, many times the police could not help you in real time. Situations got very much out of hand. And when every single business on a block was getting looted simultaneously, it's a situation where it's every man for himself. In Minnesota, for example, the estimates were that over 1,500 Twin Cities businesses were damaged by things like vandalism, fire, and or looting at a cost of over $500 million. Nationwide, that figure was closer to $2 billion. More recently though, just a few weeks ago, we saw a repeat performance in France which erupted in rioting and looting with hundreds of storefronts being ransacked. I'm sure you already saw those viral videos of unarmed store owners desperately trying to defend their shop from the looters only to be assaulted and overpowered. Some store owners even tried to rationalize with the masked bandits to basically no avail. The early estimates that I've seen come out of France say that upwards of 3,000 businesses were affected by this latest round of riots. And so all of this naturally raises a very simple question to law-abiding business owners. How can you actually protect yourselves when the police cannot be counted on to help you? Now, of course, here in America, thanks to the Second Amendment, We have more options. Many store owners, they've simply brandished firearms, and dissuaded would-be looters from coming in. It's a highly effective tactic. And as just one example of many, if you're old enough to remember it, in 1992, the LA riots were kept out of Koreatown by the rooftop Koreans. But if you happen to own a business today, either in the European Union or in many major cities here in America, where legally owning a firearm for self-defense can be somewhere between difficult to impossible. Thankfully though, the free market has once again responded and it offers several alternative options that business owners can use to make their shops a harder target for looters. And I'm not just talking about what we all kind of assume like steel rolling doors, cameras or Tempered Glass, stick with me until the end as I highlight three innovative yet under-deployed solutions that are changing the odds back in favor of the business owner. And I will mention that we have no monetary or business relationship with these companies I'm about to highlight. They are just really clever, modern solutions for modern problems. Starting with number one, Fog Cannons. You have a Danish company called Protect, makes and sells their trademark Fog cannons, which are basically giant fog machines that can be integrated with an existing alarm system. And once activated, a reservoir of fluid made primarily from water and glycol is vaporized to create a dense harmless fog that basically engulfs the entire room in seconds. The fog almost immediately brings visibility down to near zero, making it hard or even impossible for intruders to locate merchandise or anything else inside the store. Their website has video links showcasing how the fog cannon works in real life scenarios, and here's one of those videos. That company says that they've already installed over 20,000 of these fog cannons in banks across Brazil in order to address the problem that country's having with attacks on ATMs. They've also deployed thousands of these cannons across the EU as well as New Zealand. But if you're here in the US and you want to buy American, All right, just to pause here for a simple quick moment, if you're on Medicare or someone you care for is, I want to tell you about today's sponsor, Chapter. There are thousands of Medicare plans out there, but most people only wind up seeing a handful. That's because most brokers, they get paid more to push certain plans. And so instead of unbiased advice, you get a sales pitch and you could end up paying more for coverage that does not even fit your needs. Chapter, though, is is different. They're licensed advisors. Look at all of your options. And they help you find the right plan for you, not for their bottom line, for you. They'll make sure that your doctors and your prescriptions are covered at the lowest possible cost. And their help is completely free. Call 424-728-5701. That's 424-728-5701. Or you can check the link in the description box below. Click that link, head on over to Chapter, and get real help with Medicare. Chapter, thank you so much for sponsoring the episode. And now, back to the program. There's another company called Density USA that makes a similar product. Here's their president, Mr. Mike Eggle, on Fox News back in 2023 talking about the technology. Mike, talk to me about, so in this scenario, hypothetical scenario, these thieves come in, start smashing the counters, grabbing stuff. You deploy the fog, but what about the customers that are in there that then are in total shock? There was two. Yeah, typically in the United States, we're allowed to do this as kind of a smash and grab for overnights. There are a few municipalities that will allow us to do this during the daytime when customers are there. So this is really an overnight deterrent for the huge smash and grabs where they're going into the retail stores en masse. We do have some retail stores that will deploy this during the day. But the beauty is, it's a dry, dense fog that really is benign. So the only thing is, you can't see it to steal it. So whether there's employees or customers in the store, as long as you're communicating that and letting folks know to just stay in place, they'll be just fine. Then moving along to defense system number two, which is a DNA marking mist. This system, created by a British company called Select DNA, Deploys a fine mist from an overhead spray. which contains synthetic forensic markers, UV tracers, as well as microscopic RFID-type markers, which collectively tag the intruders, and then the authorities can use those tags to identify those suspects long after they left the store. Here's a clip from one of their promotional videos on their website showing the spray in action. The SelectaDNA spray, combined with warning signs, is proven to eliminate crime and protect premises and staff. Installed at exit points, the DNA spray can be armed by a panic button or an alarm system activation. The spray then fires once the offender leaves the premises, emitting a colourless and unique synthetic DNA fluid to link the criminal to the crime scene. It covers skin, hair, clothing and footwear and can be traceable for months. Police routinely scan for traces of SelectaDNA and it clings to fibres and settles in creases of the skin. The mist that's getting sprayed out is mostly water that contains small strands of lab-made DNA. And it's not human DNA, it's synthetic DNA that has a unique sequence that is tied to the location where it was deployed. I believe every... System that gets set up is marked with a different DNA strand so you know exactly which store it came from. Meaning, in practice, a simple swab will show whether or not you were in that store when the mist was deployed. And according to the company documents, these invisible to the naked eye markings can remain on the suspect for months and they're extremely difficult to remove even through repeated washing. And so even if the suspect knows. about this DNA mist spray, which they probably don't, they probably assume it's like a water spray, but even if they know about it, it's still very hard to remove. Also, aside from overhead dispersal units that are used in stores, that same company, they also offer a range of handheld sprayers that can be used by either police or store employees to mark offenders. Also, if you don't want to spray someone in the face, they also offer a different set of kits that are meant to mark the valuables themselves. Here's a clip of how that other kit works. SelectaDNA can help protect your organization from theft, robbery, and break-ins. Each SelectaDNA kit comes with its own completely unique synthetic DNA coded solution and a variety of warning stickers and signage. Once marked, valuables are registered on our secure asset register. So that if an item is found by the police, it can easily be traced back to your organisation. By displaying the warning signage, thieves are more likely to stay away due to the fear of being linked to any crime they commit. Our SelectaDNA solution comes in a bottled liquid for marking all types of moveable assets or a spray version for fixed infrastructure such as copper cabling, solar panels and lead roofs. The solution appears clear on all assets and can be found by police using UV detection equipment, as well as containing a unique DNA code. Our solution also contains thousands of microscopic dots with a customer ID on. Once the marking is identified, a micro dot can be read with a microscope and checked against the secure asset register to determine who the registered owner is. If no micro dots can be located, a sample of the solution can be collected by the police and sent to our state-of-the-art laboratory for analysis and identification by expert scientists. And in terms of the success, the company website is full of examples of authorities using these markings to identify as well as to prosecute thieves found in possession of stolen goods and they were identified because they had these DNA strands on them. And while most of their customers reside overseas in the EU, SelectDNA also has teams in Florida, Tennessee, as well as the great state of California for anyone interested in securing their property from theft. But of course, that method only works to identify the thieves or looters after they broke in, robbed the place, and then left. If you're looking for a solution that packs I guess you can say a bigger punch while at the same time preventing the looting in the first place. There is the third system on our list which is the Sentry Zone Assailant Suppression System by a company called Crotega. They offer a product that is quickly growing in popularity and being deployed in places like schools, hospitals, airports, courthouses, cruise liners, casinos, shopping malls, places of worship, as well as private businesses across all of America. Their system is essentially a ceiling-mounted sprinkler system, but unlike the fog or the mist that we talked about earlier, this thing rains down a water-based skin irritant that basically acts like pepper spray. Initially thought up as a solution to stop school shooters, This system can be remotely activated to release this irritant spray for anywhere between five to thirty seconds at a time. And it can be deployed again either from the ceiling or from side vents so that when the intruder comes in, they're just blasted with what is essentially pepper spray that fills the area directly surrounding them and burns them to a crisp, but not permanently. Here's a clip from a demonstration video showing how the whole thing works. The Cortegas sentry was remotely deployed when the high school subject entered the vestibule to unlock the door. He was quickly disoriented. The deployment deterred, disrupted, and delayed the subject for 20 seconds in the vestibule. Zone 2 was deployed when the subject entered the lobby. He is struggling to see and is increasingly unable to focus on his environment. Additionally, you can see an in-house responder following as soon as the burst is over. 35 seconds into the deployment, the subject is unable to continue. The in-house responder is able to approach the subject without the subject knowing the responder is there. 25 seconds after having his face flushed with water, you can see the subject is smiling and is chatting with others, is no longer disoriented and able to function as before. And as we just saw, that irritant, it's markedly different from pepper spray in that once you rinse it off, the effects, the burning effects actually quickly dissipate. Unlike pepper spray, which will keep burning you for at least 20 minutes, no matter how you try to wash it off. And they've apparently been gaining popularity with over 250 law enforcement organizations in 40 different states having replaced their pepper spray with the Repulse brand spray, as well as over 500 hospitals and healthcare clinics having adopted it in indoor use. We here at the Epoch Times, we actually reached out to the CEO of Crotega, who got back to us via email saying the following, quote, By focusing Repulse in the law enforcement and hospital markets, we gained significant credibility. Since 2022, we're We're being used by law enforcement in over 40 states, the largest being the Phoenix PD. Hospital security has replaced pepper spray with Repulse across the nation. The latest airport police department to switch to Repulse is the Los Angeles World Airport Police. The Mall of America security carries Repulse. The Arizona Supreme Court issued an administrative directive naming Repulse as an accepted chemical irritant. Our chemical irritant for the Sentry Zone systems now has credibility. This will make it easier to market to schools, hospitals, clinics, and the public sector. Over the past several months, we have been preparing to re-enter the market with SentryZone. Mr. Crow's email then went on to say that they actually recently were approached by the State Department to submit a proposal for embassy and consulate protection as well. Meaning, the next time that you're trying to storm the consulate in Kabul, you might get a remotely activated spray to the face. But don't worry, because you can run outside and wash it off and the burning sensation will go away. The company is actually working on an initiative to bring their Repulse product to the LA area as well, ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, specifically for the LA transit system. Of course though, it is worth mentioning that unlike the other two systems, this type of a system that's actually designed to release an irritant within a confined space Does raise questions of legality, since it is technically a use of force, and those laws can vary wildly by district. And so if you are a business owner thinking of installing one of these bad boys in your shop, just do check with your local laws ahead of time. The company actually offers assistance to any organization or any building that's interested in obtaining one of their Sentry Zone systems, and they will help you navigate the relevant state and local regulations. And so there you have it. unconventional solutions that could just be the thing that store owners are looking for to bulk up their security in the modern day that we happen to find ourselves in. One system makes it impossible for looters to see what they intend to steal, that's the fog system. Another one helps the police to identify them after the fact. And then the third system delivers an immediate physical deterrent that will make any looter pay with pain. The best would be a layered defense And of course, with all three of these systems installed. Looters would be banging around into each other trying to find an exit in a cloud of fog while getting pepper sprayed and then marked for later identification by the select DNA mist. If you want to check out any of the relevant links to the systems that we discussed in today's episode, those will be down in the description box below, which is right below those like and subscribe buttons, both of which I hope you smash so this video can be picked up by the algorithm and shared out with ever more people. And also, If you know of any other interesting systems that... I should have included in the list. Leave them in the comments section below. I'll be checking that out later today and into the week. And I'm sure anyone watching this video can also go down to the comments section and check it out. But make it unique. Don't just say, well, you should have a 45 under the table. That's obvious. Maybe a shotgun somewhere else. But how about some innovative systems? Give us some of those, especially something non-lethal. So, thank you. Kind of an innovative solution, a modern solution to the modern problems we face. And then, until next time, I'm your host Roman from the Epoch Times. Stay informed, and most importantly, stay free.