Calling the Police Shouldn’t Feel Like a Risk. Here’s How Marginalized Business Owners Can Prepare

Recently I was speaking with a Black LGBTQ woman who owns a business. “I don’t think I would call the police if my business were getting robbed,” she told me.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this. I’ve been asked this question more than once by marginalized people who are worried about contacting the police for help. Although I cannot understand the struggles faced by some minority business owners, I worry about victims who don’t feel like they’re able to report crimes. It breaks my heart to live in a day and age when that’s even a consideration.

Should business owners from marginalized communities call the police to report a crime?

In a single word, yes.

Some groups — like the Black and LGBTQ community — are suspicious of the police and other authorities due to the media and their lived experience. Without minimizing that, the stereotype of the bad cop can hurt you, especially if you’ve been the victim of a crime.

First of all, I want to state that the majority of police interactions and responses with all members of the public are overall favorable. Police have thousands of interactions on a daily basis with a wide range of people of varying demographics that go unnoticed and unheralded. Though negative incidents have been widely publicized in the media, please remember there are many unpublished events where police have saved people, solved crimes, and prevented catastrophes.

Not all police officers are bad, just as not all police officers are good, but not all customers, patrons, citizens, people will be good either. Not every police officer is going to see eye to eye with the people they’re helping either.

The best police officers are the ones who can put aside their personal beliefs and do their job: protecting you and your business.

If I’m wary of the police, what can I do?

Don’t wait until a crime occurs to contact law enforcement. In fact, do it now, before an incident happens. Get to know the officers in your area, the department, and their protocols for responding to an incident. If you’re concerned about the police who might be responding to your location, get to know their superiors as well as your local representatives, so you know who to call if there is a problem with the police. If you have a concern, mention it.

The burden of building these relationships should not just fall on you. Police departments should also be proactive when it comes to meeting the business owners in a community. Sometimes, police departments hold town halls and trainings. If yours does not, then gather other business owners and tell the police department you’d like a town hall to address concerns of prejudice in the police department or other issues.

While this may not be the full solution, I find that developing relationships can help. With a better relationship, you’ll be better prepared to contact them if the need arises, and you may find you’re less concerned about dialing 911.

Protect your business with proactive security

No business owner should have to choose between their safety and their sense of dignity. Reporting a crime should not feel like a moral calculation or a personal risk assessment layered on top of an already traumatic moment. While relationships with law enforcement matter and can reduce uncertainty, they are only one part of a larger security picture.

That’s where preparation and visibility make a difference. Thoughtful security planning helps reduce the likelihood that an incident escalates to the point where emergency intervention feels unavoidable. It also gives business owners more control, clearer options, and better documentation if they do need outside help.

At Circadian Risk, we believe security should support people, not intimidate them. Our approach focuses on prevention, awareness, and clarity so business owners can protect their spaces without feeling powerless or alone. Safety is not just about what happens during a crisis. It’s about everything you do beforehand to make sure that crisis never happens at all.

If you want to strengthen your security posture, reduce risk, and make more confident decisions about protecting your business, Circadian Risk can help.

Schedule a personalized demo today and take the next step toward security that works for you, not against you.

About the Author

Daniel Young

Founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Daniel has been a security and risk advisor for more than 10 years, and is passionate about helping companies to better understand their risks to undesirable events on a daily basis. Dan previously served as the Regional Bioterrorism Coordinator for District 1 in Michigan, where he was instrumental in preparing communities for catastrophic incidents. He has also acted as the Private Security Liaison for the City of Lansing’s Critical Infrastructure Team, which identified and documented deficiencies in the city’s critical infrastructure.

He is a Co-Founder of the CSO Risk Council, a think tank of seasoned security professionals and thought leaders with extensive experience in managing the physical security and risks of large enterprises consisting of multiple sites and whose mission is to create a better process to develop and share innovative solutions and pertinent information with organizations to improve safety and security risk by providing a forum to discuss best practices and recommendations for specific risk scenarios and to network with other enterprise security professionals.