SECURITY: A BRIEF LESSON
I don't collect currency (nothing GOOD anyway), but I often find nice bills at work, and I sell them to people who do collect, so I am in touch, to a degree, with the currency collecting community. The following was posted by Fred Murphy on the newsgroup rec.collecting.paper-money. The topic at hand was some poor collector who got his inventory stolen at a recent paper money collector's convention, but I think the points Fred makes are well-put, and apply broadly to anyone who owns valuable portable property:
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Security rule #1: No matter what the value of your inventory, whether in
the shop or on the road, it's 100% profit for the person who shoplifts,
burglarizes, or steals it from your car on the way home from the show.
Security rule #2: The cost to you to maintain the value of your inventory
and protect it from any of the above is constant vigilance and the wage you
pay to have someone keep that vigilance. The cost to steal it is the time
the thief has to wait until you stop watching. See security rule #1.
Security rule #3: Rules one and two are not likely to change until the
legal owners of the inventory are allowed to shoot to kill any time someone
tries to steal that inventory. This may be a bit harsh for shoplifting, but
it gets the criminals' attention, and is 100% effective in combating
recidivism.
It also changes the profit picture for the thief. Instead of being a 100%
profit for time invested, it becomes a much fairer exchange of life for
product, just like everyone else has to give up their life to earn a living
to pay for what they want.
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Amen.
posted by Harvey at 5:36:33 PM permalink HOME
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