Wal-Mart & Crime: Is Wal-Mart Safe?By Paul Blank - www.wakeupwalmart.com
The Wake-Up Wal-Mart campaign recently released the first national study detailing the problem of crime at Wal-Mart store locations called “Wal-Mart & Crime: Is Wal-Mart Safe?” We requested the official police reports (ie. calls for service) from 551 Wal-Mart store locations throughout the U.S.
The results are shocking and outrageous. In 2004, at just those 551 Wal-Mart stores, police were called to respond to over 148,331 police incidents, including over 2,900 reports of serious or violent crimes....
Based on this sample, nationally in 2004, we estimate police responded to nearly 1 million reported police incidents at Wal-Mart stores costing American taxpayers $77 million.
For a complete copy of the report and to view your local police report please go to:
www.WalMartCrimeReport.com
There is no explanation why Wal-Mart, despite knowing it has a high level of crime at some of its stores, has not taken the necessary steps to improve public safety and address the serious threat to customers, employees and the community.
As early as 1994, Wal-Mart actually conducted its own crime study and found nearly 80% of the crimes were being committed in its parking lots. A 1996 confidential, internal Wal-Mart memo warned, “We are now on notice of the violence that is happening on our parking lots in the Houston area.”
And yet, even with horrific examples of violent crimes and even rapes at Wal-Mart stores, Wal-Mart has not publicly adopted a company-wide policy of installing staffed security cameras and instituting roving security patrols at all of its stores. In fact, according to a Wal-Mart official in 2000, Wal-Mart failed to put in roving security patrols at 83% of its stores even though internal Wal-Mart studies showed these patrols could reduce crime to near zero levels.
We are sending a letter to Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott calling on Wal-Mart to immediately take the necessary steps to protect its customers, employees and the community by adopting a nationwide policy to make its stores safer, including: putting in security cameras at all its stores, actually having an employee watch those security cameras and implementing roving security patrols in all of its parking lots.
As part of this campaign, we call on Wal-Mart to announce this new public safety initiative before Mother’s Day, May 14th 2006.
Please sign our letter calling on Wal-Mart to adopt a nation-wide policy to make its stores safer by Mother’s Day:
http://www.walmartcrimereport.com/letter.html
You have the power to change Wal-Mart and help build a better America. Please take a moment and pass our new website www.WalMartCrimeReport.com and our new report, “Wal-Mart & Crime: Is Wal-Mart Safe?” on to all of your friends.
Thank you for all that you do,
Paul Blank
WakeUpWalMart.com
P.S. To download a flyer about the report, click here:
http://walmartcrimereport.com/crime-flyer.pdf
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