Police offer safety tips for dental clinic staff

Get rid of the curtains, tinted windows and invest in a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera. Also, keep the doors locked at all times and make sure you always have someone with you.

These were among the pieces of advice given by a police office after the secretary of a dentist was raped by a man who also ransacked the clinic in Barangay (village) Concepcion Uno, Marikina City, last week.

Senior Insp. Eduardo Cayetano, Marikina police investigation unit chief, said that tinted windows with curtains or posters prevent someone from the outside from seeing what is happening inside the clinic, giving anyone with a malicious mind the “opportunity” to attack.

He added that clinic owners should also be “more security-conscious” by investing in a CCTV camera system so that in case of an attack, it would be easier for the police to identify the perpetrator.

Cayetano said that in last week’s case, it would probably take some time before the police would be able to identify the rapist/robber because there was no CCTV camera installed in the establishment.

“It would have been easier (to identify the suspect) if there had been cameras,” he pointed out, adding that although there was a CCTV camera at a nearby establishment, it was trained somewhere else.

Cayetano said that for security reasons, there should be at least two people in the clinic so that in case of an attack, one of them would be able to escape to call for help.

“If you’re alone, nobody else can help you and the attacker knows this,” he explained.

He added that employees should also always keep the clinic doors locked and to be cautious when letting in people they do not know.