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In the 1970's, when convenience stores began
extending their hours, with many open 24-hours a day, the incidence
of armed robberies began to increase at an alarming rate. From 1968
to 1973, robbery in chain stores increased 167% compared to an overall
increase in robberies of 39% during the same period. The Western Behavioral
Sciences Institute, under a grant from the National Institute of Justice
and in cooperation with the Southland Corporation, conducted research,
including social studies of convicted armed robbers, to look at the
stores from the robbers' point of view and then devise countermeasures
to deter theft. The studies determined that two of the most important
factors to a criminal in selecting a store to rob were the availability
of cash and the ability to get it quickly
As a division of the Southland Corporation, Tidel
(an acronym for TImed-DELay) designed the first timed-delay cash
access safe initially for use only in 7-Eleven stores. Simply, the
Timed Access Cash Controller (TACC) makes a store less attractive
to a potential robber. By moving a store's change fund and excess
cash into a TACC unit, there is no available cash in the store,
outside the minimal required amounts in the register drawer. As
a TACC unit is programmed to dispense cash on a timed-delay basis
as a store's cashier requires funds (for example, not more than
once every three minutes), a store's excess cash is not available
quickly - and the thief goes elsewhere.
Twelve years after the Southland Corporation began
implementing its first theft prevention plan, 7-Eleven stores had
experienced a 65% decrease in robberies nationwide during the period
from 1975 to 1986. Ten years later, in 1996, that figure was still
unchanged despite an increase in robberies elsewhere during the
decade. FBI statistics reflect a remarkable nationwide decrease
in the incidence of armed robbery in convenience stores from Tidel's
inception through 1992. According to the convenience store industry,
robberies declined another 45% from 1992 to 1998. Since its beginning
over twenty-five years ago, Tidel has installed more than 150,000
TACC units in 38 countries.
While Tidel's Timed Access Cash Controllers continue
to provide effective theft prevention for retailers worldwide, we
respond to the demands of the marketplace by creating innovative
solutions for new cash management problems. For lottery retailers,
Tidel introduced the TACC III
to allow stores to pay out potentially thousands of dollars per
week in winnings without exposing a store's excess cash or reducing
the safety of its employees. The TACC
III interfaces directly with online lottery terminals to automatically
dispense winning amounts without disrupting the store's regular
timed-delay schedule.
Tidel continues to build on its success in the
retail Cash Control market by integrating new features and functionality
into the TACC product line. Through the
development of more cost-effective services, Tidel's customers
continue to reap the benefits of added security and efficiency through
better Cash Control.
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