Private Security for Pharmacies explores the real-world risks pharmacies, medical facilities, and other drug-dispensing environments face - from theft and access control concerns to employee safety, inventory protection, and broader operational vulnerabilities.

In this episode of The Guardian Way, Garrett Thomas and Terry MacAdam discuss why pharmacies and facilities that dispense drugs require a more thoughtful, layered security approach. The conversation highlights how private security can help reduce risk, improve situational awareness, protect staff and customers, and support a safer environment in settings where high-value products, regulated materials, and public access all intersect.

Whether you oversee a standalone pharmacy, a healthcare facility, or another environment responsible for dispensing medication, this episode offers practical perspective on where security planning matters most and why waiting until after an incident is a costly mistake.

Listen now and discover how a smarter security strategy can help protect your people, property, and operations.

Hi and welcome to the Guardian Way.

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Today's episode, episode 92,

regarding the wine industry

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and some of the private security solutions

that could be available to that industry

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as they continue to expand throughout

to Northern California.

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Well, throughout all of California.

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This is a particular interest

to our co-founder for the series

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and the CEO and founder of Guardian

Protection Force, Garrett Thomas.

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Good morning Garrett.

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Good morning.

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You know,

this is an interesting, industry

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where they often don't

think about security solutions.

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A lot of the ag businesses,

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are missing these security,

protocols missing.

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Really? The security thought process.

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So we're here to help, and,

we'll dive right into it.

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That's great.

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Okay.

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Well, Gareth, and why don't you go ahead

and take us through some of the different,

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elements that would be involved

in potential security,

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both from the standpoint of risk

and then potentially solutions.

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Yeah.

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Vineyard, perimeter patrols.

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You know, the purpose of this

is to prevent unauthorized access,

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vandalism, crop theft,

especially during the harvest season.

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You know, and this

there's a lot of different things

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that, happen here

that could cause a lot of shrinkage,

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where this, perimeter patrol

could stop, for example, seeing a lot of,

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vineyards, being damaged by wild hogs

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or other wild, you know, animals, deer.

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And so if there's a perimeter patrol

being, done,

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these, these, breaks in the fence or,

you know,

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somebody tampering with it

or whatever may happen will be spotted,

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and then you have a chance to fix it

before you really lose a whole crop.

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Access control for,

production facilities.

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Purpose here is to restrict

unauthorized entry into wine cellars.

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Bottling lines and storage areas.

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Solution here is keycard systems,

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biometric locks and ID badge verification

by uniformed guards.

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You really need to control the access.

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Who has access to what types of products

he can?

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Video surveillance and monitoring.

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Especially remote monitoring

can be very helpful in situations

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where there's large acreage,

wine industry that that may apply for you.

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Purpose here is

continuous monitoring of high risk areas,

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including those tasting rooms, entrances

and storage.

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Higher, high resolution

CCTV systems with remote viewing

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and AI powered alerts

will, really help you,

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be able to create a security solution

that's cost effective.

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I hear this a lot from the wine industry.

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I know they're getting hit really hard

in this season.

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But, there's camera systems

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available with AI, built into it.

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That can do many different things.

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It would take a whole

nother episode to talk about that,

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but, it's cost effective.

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So it's something that you can really use

an even in an environment in which,

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there's a lot of, shrinkage right now.

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So next one, loss prevention in retail

in tasting rooms.

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You need to prevent shoplifting.

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Employee theft and register fraud.

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Employee theft.

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Register fraud is, a very big problem

in almost any of these scenarios.

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But the wine

industry has a lot of this, too.

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Most people think

my people wouldn't do that.

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You should consider

whether or not they might be doing that.

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Some solutions may include

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plainclothes officers, POS monitoring,

customer flow analysis.

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A lot of people say,

I can't afford plainclothes officers.

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Well.

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At least you should be doing

the POS monitoring.

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A camera system

that watches, you know, the,

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the actual cash transition,

transactions.

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Is anybody auditing that?

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Is anybody monitoring that?

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Event security.

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So during harvest festivals,

private tastings, you need to ensure

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crowd control, alcohol compliance

and gas safety at public private events.

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Some of these solutions

may be, guards for the events, mobile

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command units,

bag checks, intoxication response teams.

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Everybody knows that

there's a lot of legal liability there.

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So, somebody's responding to that in a,

appropriate manner.

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Could really reduce your liabilities.

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Fire watcher services,

guard against fire and,

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risk in rural vineyards

or facilities, lacking fire systems.

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A lot of times,

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people use makeshift, buildings

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as storage when they have, overproduction

or whatever happens.

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Do those, do

those places have the fire systems

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that all of your other facilities do?

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Probably not.

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Wine transport and escort,

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prevent hijacking or theft during

delivery of high value wine.

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Some of these solutions may be armed,

unarmed escorts, GPS

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tracking of transport

vehicles, route security planning

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overnight security guards.

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Consider this, to deter break ins.

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Equipped,

equipment theft during off hours.

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A lot of, equipment, being used

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is, hard to replace and very expensive,

especially today.

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So you should really consider,

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you know, if that those items get damaged

or stolen.

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How much would that cost you?

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Some solutions may be station

guards, visible

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patrols, canines as needed.

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Undercover surveillance.

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The purpose here is to investigate

suspected employee theft or vendor fraud.

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Discreetly.

Some solutions may be licensed.

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Private investigators

and covert surveillance setups.

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Inventory protection and audit support.

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Purpose here is to reduce shrinkage

and storage.

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Cases of wine barrels

or bottling supplies.

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Some of the solutions

include security assisted inventory audits

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and chain of custody protocols.

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You know,

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because setting up a chain custody

protocol really doesn't cost you anything.

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And it's very effective

if you don't have one, you should.

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Emergency response planning.

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Purpose here is to prepare for a wildfire.

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Fires.

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Earthquakes, criminal incidents.

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You need to create a customized security,

response plan,

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evacuation protocols and coordination

with local law enforcement.

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A lot of people forget the last part

there.

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The, coordination

with local law enforcement.

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That really helps a response later, helps

for a speedy response

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when something happens.

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Alarm system, installation and response.

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Purpose here is to deter intrusion

intrusions

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after hours and ensure rapid response.

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Some of the solutions may be smart

alarm systems linked to private dispatch

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and response teams.

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And today, there's so many different

alarm systems available from,

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perimeter breaches, motion

detection, night vision, sound detection.

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It's unbelievable what's out there.

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If you have a problem,

you could probably go Google

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and search for it and see some sort of,

alert system that works with,

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you know, a lot more accuracy than it did

ten years ago.

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Well, you know, again, right,

this is great information,

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and it sure kind of puts

a whole new perspective on

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some of the issues that are around,

you know, security for the wine industry.

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And it's great information

not only for the people

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that are in the industry,

but those that partake in it

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and that come up and stuff like that.

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So, or investors

that are in those businesses.

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So this is great information.

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So to wrap this up today, why don't you,

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just recap for our audience,

some of the primary,

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major security solutions

that were provided by Guardian.

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Yeah, we always encourage that.

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First site assessment.

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You definitely should get that.

Give us a call.

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The first one's free.

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So, you know,

you have no reason not to call us.

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Workplace violence prevention.

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Now, in California, that is a,

it's a demand of the state of California.

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So if you are operating in California,

that's something you have to have.

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I camera systems.

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Guard and patrol services,

armed, unarmed plainclothes

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security operations plans and assessments.

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Contentious, contentious termination

services and executive protection.

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Well, great.

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Gary, why don't you sign us off for today,

and we'll look forward

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to seeing everybody

on our next episode of the Guardian. Way.

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All right, till next time.

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Stay safe and see you then.