What we endure Crime prevention One or two pizza drivers are robbed every day in the United States. For every one of those, about ten more are not reported in the news. The media reported crimes in almost every city in the nation, including small cities. Don't think a robbery can't happen to you because you don't work in a large metropolitan area. Crime is a serious issue that cannot be ignored. After pouring over thousands of news reports, patterns in how the crimes were pulled off emerge. Here are several ways that drivers can prevent them from happening. Get rid of car toppers. 30% of robberies were crimes of opportunity. They were inspired and acted upon at the spur of the moment. These were made possible by advertisement on the car that made the driver's presence obvious to criminals. Every three days, a driver was robbed when a criminal spotted a car topper. Do call-backs to verify the order. A call-back would have prevented another 30% of robberies. Look for signs of residence when you arrive at a location. About 25% of crimes took place at a vacant house or apartment. Out of those, 75% were vacant apartments. Do not deliver to a dark house. Don't get out of your car. Drive past it and do a call-back. Refuse to deliver unless a light is turned on. Many crimes happen when someone was on the front porch of a dark house. The house was vacant. If the person lived there, a light would be turned on somewhere in the house. Park as close to the customer's door as possible to minimize exposure to the outdoors. Walk briskly. Be aware of your surroundings. Beware of teenagers grouped in twos wearing hooded sweatshirts. Most criminals fit that description. The criminal's average age is 19. The average number of criminals is 2.2 with little variance. Be suspicious of pedestrians when you pull up to a house. Don't open your car door if people are nearby. When you are on foot, avoid anyone outdoors who walks toward you. Anyone with a bandanna over their face or wearing a ski mask is a suspect. Run! Always lock your car doors. Have the windows rolled up. Park in line of sight of the customer's door so you can monitor your car at all times. Ask the customer to watch you leave as this will deter a would-be criminal and provide a witness with quick access to a phone should a robbery occur on your way back to your car. Be certain to do this if the people did not order and their address was right. Having a cell phone helps. A few criminals stopped when they noticed the driver carried a cell. Do not carry more than $20 on you. Make regular cash drops at the store. Carrying too much money makes drivers more attractive to criminals. Do not break a 50 or 100 unless the change was less than 20. Do not carry personal cash, credit cards, or an ATM card. Some criminals forced the driver to make a withdrawal at an ATM. Another way to stop criminals is to keep records of past robberies and share with the local delivery community. According to the Miami Herald, a Papa John's store received an order for the same fake address as an earlier robbery, but this time they were ready. They asked an undercover detective to deliver the order. The detective walked up to an apartment and nobody answered. Then, five young men approached and one was carrying a pipe. That's when nine Miami police officers swooped in and arrested all five. Stores in Greenville, SC, Lawrenceville, PA, and Coffeyville, KS did the same thing. (If local stores had shared robbery information, some would have been prevented like the ones in New Haven, CT. Three robberies took place within three hours of each other at the same address. The criminals called three different pizza stores on the night of February 21, 2004.) If you are robbed and can't get away, the best thing is not to resist. Simply hand over the money or food and move on. We urge you to gather a good description of the criminals, looking for anything unique and identifiable, and run straight to the police. See the discussion board for more information and to share your ideas on preventing delivery crimes. Last updated: April 24, 2009 return to top