WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WXYZ) — CVS Pharmacy on Monday announced has completed a rollout of implementing time-delay safes at all 318 Michigan pharmacies to help reduce robbery incidents. That announcement was made with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
The safes are expected to help prevent pharmacy robberies and the diversion of controlled substance narcotic medications.
They work by electronically delaying the time it takes for pharmacy employees to be able to open the safe. CVS first implemented them in Indianapolis, which had experienced a high-volume of pharmacy robberies in 2015. After implementing them, they saw a 70 percent decline at the stories were the safes were located.
“Pharmacy robberies are a challenging issue for every pharmacy and we are committed to doing all we can to reduce the number of incidents in our Michigan stores,” said Betsy Ferguson, Senior Vice President and Deputy Counsel, for CVS Health during an event today at a CVS Pharmacy in suburban Detroit. “We have seen that time delay safes, combined with other security policies and procedures in place at our stores, can greatly reduce these incidents and are pleased to roll out this enhanced security measure. These safes will help ensure that our pharmacies remain a safe environment for our patients and colleagues.”
The time delay function can't be overridden and is designed to serve as a deterrent to would-be robbers who want to move as quickly as possible. There will be visible signage warnings that time-delay safes are in use.
“I am pleased to join CVS Health today in announcing the installation of time delay safes in all of their pharmacies across our state,” said Nessel. “The opioid epidemic has hit Michigan especially hard, as it has so many other states, and our communities are working to fight this growing problem each and every day. An important way to do so is to ensure that medications are kept out of the wrong hands and these safes will help do just that.”
