CVS Health completes rollout of time-delay safes in 5 western states

As part of an ongoing commitment to support law enforcement and help build safer communities, CVS Health today announced the installation of time-delay safe technology in all 106 CVS Pharmacy locations, including those in Target stores, across five states in the western U.S.

The states and corresponding number of pharmacy locations include Colorado (54), Utah (30), Montana (15), Idaho (4) and Wyoming (3).

CVS Pharmacy locations now feature signs notifying customers about the chain's time-delay safe technology to help deter pharmacy robberies and diversion of controlled substance narcotic medications.

The safes are anticipated to help prevent pharmacy robberies and the potential for associated diversion of controlled substance medications and opioid medications by electronically delaying the time it takes for pharmacy employees to open the safe. In addition, the safes are anticipated to benefit the safety and well-being of CVS Pharmacy customers and employees.

[Read more: CVS Health completes rollout of time-delay safes in Georgia]

The company's rollout of time-delay safe technology is in support of each of these state's partnership with local and state law enforcement and the retail community to fight back against escalating organized retail crime.

"Supporting law enforcement efforts in their battle against organized retail crime remains a key focus for our company," said Thomas Moriarty, chief policy officer and general counsel at CVS Health. "Criminal activities that organized retail crime rings fund are a clear danger to our communities, so it is important that retailers, law enforcement and political leaders work together to solve this problem. Time delay safes can help reduce the theft and diversion of prescription medications and bring added security to our stores which creates a safe environment for our patients and colleagues."

CVS Health first implemented time-delay safe technology in 2015 in CVS Pharmacy locations across Indianapolis, a city experiencing a high volume of pharmacy robberies at the time. The company saw a 70% decline in pharmacy robberies among the Indianapolis stores where time-delay safes had been installed. Since then, the company has introduced the technology across 29 states and the District of Columbia, resulting in a 50% decline in robberies at CVS pharmacies in those local communities. Other states where  CVS Pharmacy locations are equipped with time-delay safe technology include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

[Read more: CVS Health completes rollout of time-delay safes in Arizona, Nevada]

The time-delay function cannot be overridden and is designed to serve as a deterrent to would-be pharmacy robbers whose goal is to enter and exit their robbery targets as quickly as possible. All CVS Pharmacy locations with this technology display visible signage warning that time-delay safes are in use to prevent on-demand access to controlled substance narcotics.

The time-delay safe program at CVS Health is one of many company initiatives to help address and prevent prescription medication misuse and diversion.

Presently, the company supports more than 4,300 safe medication disposal units in CVS Pharmacy locations and through local law enforcement organizations nationwide. Together, these existing medication disposal units have collected more than 4 million pounds of unwanted medications that might otherwise have been diverted, misused or ended up in the water supply, CVS Health said.