Post: #1

Quote:Darrell Ross—Officer Walmart to his colleagues in the Tulsa Police Department—operates for up to 10 hours a day out of the security office of a Walmart Supercenter in the city’s northeast corner. It’s a small, windowless space with six flatscreen monitors mounted on a pale blue cinder-block wall, and on this hot summer day, the room is packed. Four Walmart employees watch the monitors, which toggle among the dozens of cameras covering the store and parking lot, while doing paperwork and snacking on Cheez Whiz and Club Crackers. In a corner of the room, an off-duty sheriff’s officer, hired by Walmart, makes small talk with the employees.

As soon as Ross walks in the door, around 2 p.m., he’s presented with an 18-year-old who tried to leave the store with a microwave oven. Ross focuses his gaze and talks in a low voice to the young man, who just graduated from high school and plans to go into the military. He also attempts to calm the boy’s mother, who rushed to the store and is worried that her son won’t be able to enlist if he gets a criminal record. “You need to start taking responsibility for your actions,” Ross tells the teenager. “You’re a man now.” He tells the mother that because it was the boy’s first offense, he won’t be arrested—but if he messes up twice more, he’ll be charged with a felony. Ross slips a pair of reading glasses out of his bulletproof vest and writes the young man a summons to appear in court.

Before he can finish the paperwork, Walmart security employees catch another shoplifter. They bring in a middle-aged woman with big sunken eyes and pale cheeks, her hair tied in a messy bun. Employees caught her using phony gift cards. She rattles off excuses: The cards were given to her by a friend, she’s just gotten out of the hospital, she’s dehydrated. At one point she pretends to vomit into a trash can. Picking up the odor of pot, Ross takes a look in her handbag and finds marijuana roaches, along with a small scale and a pill bottle full of baggies. A computer check reveals five outstanding warrants for her arrest.

It’s not unusual for the department to send a van to transport all the criminals Ross arrests at this Walmart. The call log on the store stretches 126 pages, documenting more than 5,000 trips over the past five years. Last year police were called to the store and three other Tulsa Walmarts just under 2,000 times. By comparison, they were called to the city’s four Target stores about 300 times. Most of the calls to the northeast Supercenter were for shoplifting, but there’s no shortage of more serious crimes, including five armed robberies so far this year, a murder suspect who killed himself with a gunshot to the head in the parking lot last year, and, in 2014, a group of men who got into a parking lot shootout that killed one and seriously injured two others.

Police reports from dozens of stores suggest the number of petty crimes committed on Walmart properties nationwide this year will be in the hundreds of thousands. But people dashing out the door with merchandise is the least troubling part of Walmart’s crime problem. More than 200 violent crimes, including attempted kidnappings and multiple stabbings, shootings, and murders, have occurred at the nation’s 4,500 Walmarts this year, or about one a day, according to an analysis of media reports. Sometimes they’re spectacular enough to get national attention. In June, a SWAT team killed a hostage taker at a Walmart in Amarillo, Texas. In July, three Walmart employees in Florida were charged with manslaughter after a shoplifter they chased and pinned down died of asphyxia. Other crimes are just bizarre. On Aug. 8, police discovered a meth lab inside a 6-foot-high drainage pipe under a Walmart parking lot in Amherst, N.Y.

All this is still happening more than a year into a corporate campaign to bring down crime—a campaign Walmart says is succeeding. Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon, who took charge of the giant retailer in February 2014, has made reducing crime a top priority. The company’s new strategy primarily involves shifting employees within stores—moving them from the storeroom and aisles to store exits, where some of them spot-check receipts. It’s also stationing people at self-checkout areas, installing eye-level security cameras in high-theft areas (particularly electronics and cosmetics departments), and using data analytics to detect when people try to get credit for things they didn’t buy (thieves love to find discarded receipts in the parking lot, then go into the store, gather up items on the list, and “return” them for cash). To cut down on calls to police, Walmart has been rolling out a program where first-time offenders caught stealing merchandise below a certain value can avoid arrest if they agree to go through a theft-prevention program. At some higher-crime stores, the company is also hiring off-duty police and private security officers. According to Walmart Stores executives, it’s all starting to work.

Police chiefs and their officers on the ground say that’s just not so. Ross likes to joke that the concentration of crime at Walmart makes his job easier. “I’ve got all my bad guys in one place,” he says, flashing a bright smile. His squad’s sergeant, Robert Rohloff, a 34-year police veteran who has to worry about staffing, budgets, and patrolling the busiest commercial district in Tulsa, says there’s nothing funny about Walmart’s impact on public safety. He can’t believe, he says, that a multibillion-dollar corporation isn’t doing more to stop crime. Instead, he says, it offloads the job to the police at taxpayers’ expense. “It’s ridiculous—we are talking about the biggest retailer in the world,” says Rohloff. “I may have half my squad there for hours.”

Walmart knows police departments are frustrated. “We absolutely understand how important this is. It is important for our associates, it is important for our customers and across the communities we serve,” says Judith McKenna, Walmart’s chief operating officer for the U.S. “We can do better.”

But when? That’s what law enforcement around the country wants to know. “The constant calls from Walmart are just draining,” says Bill Ferguson, a police captain in Port Richey, Fla. “They recognize the problem and refuse to do anything about it.”

There’s nothing inevitable about the level of crime at Walmart. It’s the direct, if unintended, result of corporate policy. Beginning as far back as 2000, when former CEO Lee Scott took over, an aggressive cost-cutting crusade led many stores to deteriorate. The famed greeters were removed, taking away a deterrent to theft at the porous entrances and exits. Self-checkout scanners replaced many cashiers. Walmart added stores faster than it hired employees. The company has one worker for every 524 square feet of retail space, a 19 percent increase in space per employee from a decade ago.

In terms of profit, all this has worked: Sales per employee in the U.S. have grown 23 percent in the past decade, to $236,804. For criminals, however, the cutbacks were like sending out a message that no one at Walmart cared, no one was watching, and no one was likely to catch you.

Fixing the problem comes down to money. When McMillon became CEO, he established an ambitious program to fix up long-neglected stores, starting with making them cleaner and stocking them better. Then, in early 2015, came a push to crack down on shoplifting. Experts say that should have additional public safety benefits: Less petty crime typically means less violent crime.

Police departments inevitably compare their local Walmarts with Target stores. Target, Walmart’s largest competitor, is a different kind of retail business, with mostly smaller stores that tend to be located in somewhat more affluent neighborhoods. But there are other reasons Targets have less crime. Unlike most Walmarts, they’re not open 24 hours a day. Nor do they allow people to camp overnight in their parking lots, as Walmarts do. Like Walmart, Target relies heavily on video surveillance, but it employs sophisticated software that can alert the store security office when shoppers spend too much time in front of merchandise or linger for long periods outside after closing time. The biggest difference, police say, is simply that Targets have more staff visible in stores.

“Target doesn’t have these problems,” says Ferguson. “Part of it may be the lower prices at Walmart or where Walmart is located, but when I walk into Target I see uniformed security or someone walking around up front. You see no one at Walmart. It just seems like an easy target.” A Target spokeswoman declined to comment on the two companies’ security policies.

A more apt comparison may be shopping centers, which like Walmarts are sprawling and attract thousands of shoppers a day. Unlike Walmart, shopping centers tend to invest heavily in uniformed security patrols and off-duty police. “Shopping centers all have security; they know it’s an expense, but one they know pays dividends because people feel safer going to their stores,” says J.R. Roberts, an independent consultant and a former director for risk management at Valor Security Services, a provider of security to shopping centers. “It doesn’t make any sense why Walmart wouldn’t apply this the way every mall does in the U.S.”

Rest of the article here: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/

If you needed any more proof of how companies like Walmart are raping the country and destroying communities, look no further.

After they make billions selling their cheap Chinese bullshit goods and shutting down all the businesses in the area, they refuse to even staff their stores and make the taxpayer cover the bill for their security.

Post: #2

I am afraid that I don't get the point of this article.

Walmart is often the victim of shoplifters, fraudsters and other criminals. It catches many of them in the act and delivers them to the police as it is proper.

What is it supposed to do instead, shoot them on the spot?

Post: #3

(08-20-2016 01:03 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  I am afraid that I don't get the point of this article.

Walmart is often the victim of shoplifters, fraudsters and other criminals. It catches many of them in the act and delivers them to the police as it is proper.

What is it supposed to do instead, shoot them on the spot?

corporate bashing du jour #feelthebern

Post: #4

(08-20-2016 01:03 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  I am afraid that I don't get the point of this article.

Walmart is often the victim of shoplifters, fraudsters and other criminals. It catches many of them in the act and delivers them to the police as it is proper.

What is it supposed to do instead, shoot them on the spot?

They don't control their own clientele. Bars have bouncers for this, and will be shut down for being a public nuisance if police have to disproportionately waste resources there.

Walmart is the worst public nuisance in the US when excess police visits are counted. This, combined with much of their profit being from food stamps while they pay their employees so little that they have to be on food stamps, makes Walmart the largest private beneficiary of public assistance in the country.

Which surprisingly pisses those of us off that pay taxes and work for a living.

Post: #5

(08-20-2016 01:04 PM)Vaun Wrote:  corporate bashing du jour #feelthebern

libertarian worship of money #shabbosgoylifestyle

Post: #6

But the people who shoplift at Walmart do it because they're scum, not because Walmart has supposedly made it easy for them (and evidently it's not easy at all, because as the article mentions they have tons of surveillance and catch almost everyone).

Do you think an 18 year old thug who values a stolen microwave above a military career is going to stop committing various crimes if Walmart adds more security guards? No, he's just going to try stealing at the next shop, steal a car on the street or paint grafitti somewhere.

Post: #7

(08-20-2016 01:14 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  But the people who shoplift at Walmart do it because they're scum, not because Walmart has supposedly made it easy for them (and evidently it's not easy at all, because as the article mentions they have tons of surveillance and catch almost everyone).

Do you think an 18 year old thug who values a stolen microwave above a military career is going to stop committing various crimes if Walmart adds more security guards? No, he's just going to try stealing at the next shop, steal a car on the street or paint grafitti somewhere.

Do you think if Trump builds a wall along the southern border that Mexicans won't just try to immigrate elsewhere? No, they're just going to build a rocket ship to go to the moon.

Post: #8

But that's the whole point. A border wall forces illegals to go away from the entire US. Extra security only forces degenerates to go to the next shop 5 minutes' walk away, at which point the police will still have to intervene.

The solution here is rebuilding society as whole so that there are less degenerates and introducing harsher punishments for all sorts of crime, not just bouncing career criminals from one place to another.

Post: #9

Just put a limit on welfare credit cards so they can only be used at grocery-only stores.

Post: #10

(08-20-2016 01:24 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  But that's the whole point. A border wall forces illegals to go away from the entire US. Extra security only forces degenerates to go to the next shop 5 minutes' walk away, at which point the police will still have to intervene.

The solution here is rebuilding society as whole so that there are less degenerates and introducing harsher punishments for all sorts of crime, not just bouncing career criminals from one place to another.

It's low time preference and low iq people that get arrested at Walmart. They're only career criminals in the sense that they're too lazy and stupid to do anything else, not from any special talents.

These are the easiest people to prevent from doing anything, but Walmart wants me to pay for it while they pad their profits. If the richest family in the US can't run a profitable business without handouts, then they need a new business model.

Post: #11

Are you victim blaming!

Post: #12

I'm all for slapping around Walmart and cutting their abuse of taxpayer money, but that's not going to solve this particular problem. Walmart isn't the only vulnerable place in the USA, after all.

Post: #13

I don't want to pop anyone's bubble, but I worked at a Target when I was in high school.

We had our fair share of crazies who walked in. Some more interesting than others:

1. One woman shat all over the woman's bathroom. Apparently got shit onto the light fixtures. I thankfully avoided that cleanup.
2. Another threw a temper tantrum in front of custom service. Legit flailing on the ground like a three year old. Police took her away.
3. One person drove her car into the registers of the garden center.

There were a group of regulars always in the store at the exact same time each day hanging out in the cafe. Shoplifters galore weekly. Loss prevention did an excellent job keeping theft down too.

It doesn't matter the store, you get trash everywhere. Walmart just so happens to be the target of this click bait article because everyone thinks fat hicks go there.
Newsflash: Target, Walmart, Kmart, whatever have the exact same crazies in each store.

Post: #14

I'm with HCE. I don't see Walmart being the problem here. Walmart is an affordable giant shopping center where everyone can shop and they almost cater to people with welfare and foodstamps (somewhere has to). As a result you criminal low lifes also are found here because

1. everyone shops at walmart at a certain income threshold or below
2. public transit usually runs to a walmart (not target)
3. Its a giant store with a retail monopoly.

What can you compare the 3 above factors to, lets say 15 years ago? "The Mall". Indoor shopping malls, especially when in decline became hangouts for low lifes, shopping destinations for poor people because of discount stores and had people being walked out the door by cops every hour they were open.

Its not Walmart's fault, they are just the "dirt mall" now that those malls have closed down.

Post: #15

Walmart is so big and has the trash hanging around it that it ends up pulling them all in. Like a large planet near an asteroid field.

Saying that, it says a lot about a society which has hundreds of thousands of thefts at just one chain. If Walmart packed up all its stores the people would not magically disappear will they? They'd just move on.

Post: #16

There is such a thing as an "attractive nuisance". WalMart is providing an environment where crime like this can flourish. If WalMart went away, it is quite possible that the amount of crime would decrease dramatically.

Post: #17

(08-20-2016 03:05 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  I don't want to pop anyone's bubble, but I worked at a Target when I was in high school.

We had our fair share of crazies who walked in. Some more interesting than others:

1. One woman shat all over the woman's bathroom. Apparently got shit onto the light fixtures. I thankfully avoided that cleanup.
2. Another threw a temper tantrum in front of custom service. Legit flailing on the ground like a three year old. Police took her away.
3. One person drove her car into the registers of the garden center.

There were a group of regulars always in the store at the exact same time each day hanging out in the cafe. Shoplifters galore weekly. Loss prevention did an excellent job keeping theft down too.

It doesn't matter the store, you get trash everywhere. Walmart just so happens to be the target of this click bait article because everyone thinks fat hicks go there.
Newsflash: Target, Walmart, Kmart, whatever have the exact same crazies in each store.

It's obvious from your comment that you didn't read the article.

Post: #18

(08-20-2016 01:24 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  But that's the whole point. A border wall forces illegals to go away from the entire US. Extra security only forces degenerates to go to the next shop 5 minutes' walk away, at which point the police will still have to intervene.

The solution here is rebuilding society as whole so that there are less degenerates and introducing harsher punishments for all sorts of crime, not just bouncing career criminals from one place to another.

(08-20-2016 03:09 PM)Dr. Howard Wrote:  I'm with HCE. I don't see Walmart being the problem here. Walmart is an affordable giant shopping center where everyone can shop and they almost cater to people with welfare and foodstamps (somewhere has to). As a result you criminal low lifes also are found here because

1. everyone shops at walmart at a certain income threshold or below
2. public transit usually runs to a walmart (not target)
3. Its a giant store with a retail monopoly.

What can you compare the 3 above factors to, lets say 15 years ago? "The Mall". Indoor shopping malls, especially when in decline became hangouts for low lifes, shopping destinations for poor people because of discount stores and had people being walked out the door by cops every hour they were open.

Its not Walmart's fault, they are just the "dirt mall" now that those malls have closed down.

The point is that Walmart is understaffed and doesn't provide proper security, leaving the police to handle the constant crime that occurs when this happens.

Seriously, did no one actually read the article?

It even talks about shopping malls. The difference is they actually have proper security.

Post: #19

(08-20-2016 01:14 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  But the people who shoplift at Walmart do it because they're scum, not because Walmart has supposedly made it easy for them (and evidently it's not easy at all, because as the article mentions they have tons of surveillance and catch almost everyone).

Counterpoint to that: OPPORTUNITY itself also creates crime. There's a reason we not just build walls for houses, but also put in doors, lock them, and then maybe surround the house with a fence and better yet, person-high hedges to block the view of the house. It's a simple measure of reducing temptation and opportunity for easy gains with no costs and low chance of getting caught.

You might have a perfectly morally fine person who wouldn't ever dream of stealing anything. But if you park your car in front of his window, leave the door open and a smartphone or money lying on the seat and he sees it, well, the mere thought of such an easy snag of money will be burning a hole in his mind. That is a petty small crime that is easily prevented from not just occuring, but also from being formed as an idea in someone's mind by the simple measure of just not presenting an opportunity.

Post: #20

Allowing the state and county to provide inordinate amounts of attention to police Wal Mart is a clever form of subsidy that i'm sure Wal mart's executives are well aware of.

I imagine there's probably even a buddy handshake deal behind the scenes where Wal Mart agrees to open one of their supercenters and "bring" jobs into the community. While the community bears the burden of subsidizing their business with shit like this.

Wal Mart and these other large low cost wholesale mega markets are parasitical in nature. They drive smaller businesses into bankruptcy by product dumping and undercutting. Then they control the entire supply chain (mostly with Chinese manufactured goods) while threatening other suppliers who don't want to play ball with them.

Post: #21

I'm a well established grown man.

The self check out lane at the Mililani and Kunia walmarts is like Christmas coming early. I probably pay for every third item.

When the guy asks for the receipt at the door, just say no and walk out.

Aloha!

Post: #22

Not to run down this thread, but complaining about the deadbeat, thieving welfare scum that flock to Walmart and take up police time is kind of bizarre.

Like someone with brain cancer complaining, not that they have brain cancer, but that the nose bleeds they keep having are really inconvenient.

If you have rampant crime anywhere then the focal point of that crime is not the issue. It's the abundance of deadbeat, thieving welfare scum in the area that people should be focussing on.

Post: #23

(08-20-2016 08:26 PM)Kona Wrote:  I'm a well established grown man.

The self check out lane at the Mililani and Kunia walmarts is like Christmas coming early. I probably pay for every third item.

When the guy asks for the receipt at the door, just say no and walk out.

Aloha!

Wow, I'm surprised to hear that you regularly steal from Walmart, Kona. I guess it's easier to do when it's from a large, faceless corporation, than a mom & pop shop where you're directly affecting their bottom line... but after reading about your business ventures, I wouldn't think you'd be the type to dive into something like this.

Post: #24

(08-20-2016 09:35 PM)booshala Wrote:  

(08-20-2016 08:26 PM)Kona Wrote:  I'm a well established grown man.

The self check out lane at the Mililani and Kunia walmarts is like Christmas coming early. I probably pay for every third item.

When the guy asks for the receipt at the door, just say no and walk out.

Aloha!

Wow, I'm surprised to hear that you regularly steal from Walmart, Kona. I guess it's easier to do when it's from a large, faceless corporation, than a mom & pop shop where you're directly affecting their bottom line... but after reading about your business ventures, I wouldn't think you'd be the type to dive into something like this.

I'm not the type to do that at all.... But its just too easy.

The other day I just walked out with 20 pack of budwiesers on the bottom shelf of the cart and they smiled right at me.

Walmart can kiss my ass. I hope everybody rips them off.

Aloha!

Post: #25

^ the real dark triad man