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[Guevara]

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.

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.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-walmart-crime/

Pretty interesting long-format article on Walmart essentially outsourcing their crime problems to local PDs.

 

[Ziltoidia 9]

Walmart continuing its love for corporate welfare by expecting tax payers to pay for them.

Meanwhile, the walton family owns more wealth than almost half the country.

 

[SwiftDeath]

I imagine Walmart has some eye-opening stats about the increase in loss prevention cases, violent crimes etc. since 2000.

Doubt they'd ever share it though

 

[Sanjuro]

I once saw a wrestling ring set up in the men's clothing section. I just figured everything was no holds barred.

 

[PsychoSoldier]

The greeters came back to my local Walmart. Wonder if they were having loss prevention issues and were trying to curb it.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

This thread is pretty well timed given the testimonials of some of the posters in the bag checking thread.

 

[Escape Goat]

The greeters came back to my local Walmart. Wonder if they were having loss prevention issues and were trying to curb it.

Wal Mart is fighting theft with senior citizens. Yes, thats probably why they're back.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Darrell Ross—Officer Walmart to his colleagues in the Tulsa Police Department

God that must suck. Dude must get absolutely abused with jokes.

 

[itwasTuesday]

Darrell Ross—Officer Walmart

What a title.

 

[HStallion]

They should just get the Hell's Angels to do security.

 

[gdt]

So they've cut costs by pushing security and loss prevention onto local police. And local taxes.

Same thing they do with employees on food stamps.



That's great.

 

[Senoculum]

Wow at those hard facts in the last blurb of the OP.

Wal Mart is a shit superstore, and it shows they treat their employees like shit too. When I was younger and the first Wal Mart opened in our developing area, I saw people steal all the time. And in one case, saw someone walk out with a deep fryer. It was quite rampant; I even saw random ladies drink pop straight off the shelves (infuriating) but the store never did anything to improve.

They had like 70 check out lanes... and only ever like 4 were operating at a time. In fact, they never cared about the customer's time.


Fuck em.

 

[ViciousDS]

This thread is pretty well timed given the testimonials of some of the posters in the bag checking thread.

wait......what? People have been getting bag checked crazy lately? wow, guilty until proven innocent then eh?

 

[Netherscourge]

Surprised Walmart doesn't just use Express Cop Kiosks to monitor the Express Check Outs.

The guys standing at the front door who want to check your receipts are laughable. They're usually too busy chatting about something to even care who walks past them carrying a 32" TV.

 

[entremet]

Cost cutting will only get you so far.

 

[therealist]

So they've cut costs by pushing security and loss prevention onto local police. And local taxes.

Same thing they do with employees on food stamps.



That's great.

No store is obligated to have any loss prevention people. Not sure how it's walmart's fault that criminals like to shoplift there. If anything it makes the police's job easier, now they can focus their resources on a single hotspot rather than spread them out across multiple crime areas.

 

[Kurdel]

m They're usually too busy chatting about something to even care who walks past them carrying a 32" TV.

Or too busy arguing with people who think their rights are being violated for checking their receipts.

 

[ReAxion]

declare every wal-mart a public nuisance.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

wait......what? People have been getting bag checked crazy lately? wow, guilty until proven innocent then eh?

People complaining about a 5 second bag check totally ignoring that just having someone there probably deters crime.

Of course, it's Wal-Mart's fault that in their race to the bottom efforts they simply fire as many people as humanly possible so that the individual stores operate at minimum functionality to maximize profits.

 

[gdt]

No store is obligated to have any loss prevention people. Not sure how it's walmart's fault that criminals like to shoplift there. If anything it makes the police's job easier, now they can focus their resources on a single hotspot rather than spread them out across multiple crime areas.

Not necessarily specifically a loss prevention program. But they reduced employee counts and greeters and other roles that tend to reduce stealing. It's a by product of the fuckery they've been doing.

 

[MrNelson]

People complaining about a 5 second bag check totally ignoring that just having someone there probably deters crime.

Of course, it's Wal-Mart's fault that in their race to the bottom efforts they simply fire as many people as humanly possible so that the individual stores operate at minimum functionality to maximize profits.

I mean, I posted this article in that thread 10 minutes ago and am shocked that no one is saying anything about it there.

 

[jmdajr]

Cost cutting will only get you so far.

Lines there are HORRIBLE. 30 lanes, 5 cashiers.

I don't even know why I go sometimes. I definitely don't go often.

 

[Hale-XF11]

Walmart continuing its love for corporate welfare by expecting tax payers to pay for them.

Meanwhile, the walton family owns more wealth than almost half the country.

Which is why I'm perfectly ok with anyone stealing from walmart. By all means, take what you want. No fucks will be given.

 

[AP90]

Bjs wholesale has a mandatory receipt check out at the entrance..a person checks your receipt nd scans over the items in your cart. Maybe Walmart should do the same, except have 3people per entrance doing it....

But that may leave a bad taste in peoples mouths as it already takes a long tome to checkout there.

 

[Violence Jack]

The last time I went to a Walmart was almost 5 years ago. I remember long ass lines for people to check out, and the only lanes open were self-checkout that people didn't know how to use. The cops were almost always out there arresting shoplifters and people getting into fights. Then the straw that broke the camel's back for me was how little they cared about customer safety on Black Friday by actually encouraging people to fight for whatever they wanted while they sat back to watch little kids get trampled.

Walmart can go to hell for all I care.

 

[Goliath]

Bjs wholesale has a mandatory receipt check out at the entrance..a person checks your receipt nd scans over the items in your cart. Maybe Walmart should do the same, except have 3people per entrance doing it....

But that may leave a bad taste in peoples mouths as it already takes a long tome to checkout there.

Cosco does the same thing however the amount of people that go into these membership stores is not the same amount of people that go into one walmart. Not to mention the fact that most BJs and Cosco items are too big to just slip in your pocket.

 

[Zackat]

I stopped going to Walmart almost entirely due to how bad the in-store experience has become. I do most of my shopping on Amazon, and only go to Walmart if it is absolutely necessary and there is no other choice.

 

[MrNelson]

Bjs wholesale has a mandatory receipt check out at the entrance..a person checks your receipt nd scans over the items in your cart. Maybe Walmart should do the same, except have 3people per entrance doing it....

But that may leave a bad taste in peoples mouths as it already takes a long tome to checkout there.

I assume BJ's has a similar thing to Costco and Sam's Club in the terms of their membership where you have to let them check.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

The greeters came back to my local Walmart. Wonder if they were having loss prevention issues and were trying to curb it.

Yeah I've seen them back at a few stores.

 

[Jerm411]

The company I work for is in the process of a huge Wal-Mart rollout putting up monitors in high theft locations....man the stories some of these AP Mangers tell me are insane.

Was working at a store in Minnesota last week that in the span of about 3 hours got hit for over $2,000 in baby formula....while we were there.

They don't know how to cope with it lol....

 

[Kieli]

Wow, Walmart USA seems like a wasteland compared to Walmart Canada, which is pretty much like any other middle-class supermarket.

 

[badcrumble]

Walmart continuing its love for corporate welfare by expecting tax payers to pay for them.

Meanwhile, the walton family owns more wealth than almost half the country.

Stuff like this is a case for why a universal basic income wouldn't be sufficient without price controls as well, IMO.

 

[Ecotic]

Lines there are HORRIBLE. 30 lanes, 5 cashiers.

I don't even know why I go sometimes. I definitely don't go often.

Come to think of it, why does Wal-Mart have so many lanes? Usually they have 2 or 3 cashiers in addition to the self-checkout. About 7 lanes or so are usually closed. I guess they keep them in reserve for holidays but it's a big waste of floor space most of the time.

 

[FyreWulff]

Come to think of it, why does Wal-Mart have so many lanes? Usually they have 2 or 3 cashiers in addition to the self-checkout. About 7 lanes lanes or so are usually closed. I guess they keep them in reserve for holidays but it's a big waste of floor space most of the time.

They rotate the lanes in use to even the wear and tear on them (except for the lane with the cigs, that one is always open)

also they use all of them on Black Friday

 

[RastaMentality]

“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.

Idk maybe it's just me but the target stores near me are usually empty as fuck.

 

[Persona7]

Off duty officers have access to police resources when working a different job?

 

[Aurongel]

Come to think of it, why does Wal-Mart have so many lanes? Usually they have 2 or 3 cashiers in addition to the self-checkout. About 7 lanes or so are usually closed. I guess they keep them in reserve for holidays but it's a big waste of floor space most of the time.

Easier to have the space and not utilize it then for it to not exist on Black Friday and lead to congestion. It's dumb but that's a big reason why.

 

[KingV]

Lines there are HORRIBLE. 30 lanes, 5 cashiers.

I don't even know why I go sometimes. I definitely don't go often.

I go to Walmart neighborhood market occasionally. once I went and they had zero lines open and I had about $200 worth of groceries. I just left the cart. I'm not going to self check $200 worth of groceries. Especially because Walmarts self check machines are some of the worst I've used.

 

[Kittygirl]

No greeters at mine; just rent-a-cops.

And yes, every bag is checked against the receipt.

 

[PlayALLtheGames]

Wow, Walmart USA seems like a wasteland compared to Walmart Canada, which is pretty much like any other middle-class supermarket.

OK WE GET IT EVERYTHING IS BETTER AND LESS TRASHY IN CANADA THAN AMERICA OK JUST GIVE US A FUCKING BREAK

 

[KingV]

Idk maybe it's just me but the target stores near me are usually empty as fuck.

Targets problem is that they think their customers are someone different than they really are. In a sense they believe their own marketing. I used to work in the food industry and we were always arguing with them about what to carry.

Us: "Don't cut these brands, they're some of the biggest brands in that category"
Target: "our customers want upscale products and organic and non-GMO"
Us: "not at twice as much cost. You are going to lose money and shoppers"
Target would then proceed to fuck up their own life.

 

[rbanke]

I hadn't been in a Walmart in so long, I had no idea they don't have greeters anymore.

 

[HStallion]

So is Walmart going to turn into some version of the Warriors down the road? Roving gangs of no good punks roaming around Walmart stores with their own themed outfits getting into fights over territory with the aisle next to theirs.

 

[Chris R]

Lines there are HORRIBLE. 30 lanes, 5 cashiers.

I don't even know why I go sometimes. I definitely don't go often.

This is why I stopped going to Walmart a few years ago.

Only exception I made was stopping in on while on vacation to get some rain gear and some food, since the area didn't seem to have something like my local Fred Meyers and I didn't want to stop at two places.

 

[FyreWulff]

I hadn't been in a Walmart in so long, I had no idea they don't have greeters anymore.

They stopped having them for a while, but recently added them all back.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

Wow, Walmart USA seems like a wasteland compared to Walmart Canada, which is pretty much like any other middle-class supermarket.

I lose faith in humanity every time I go to the nearby one in Baton Rouge. Everything about it sucks. I prefer to go to the locally owned places and pay a little more.

 

[TAJ]

Cosco does the same thing however the amount of people that go into these membership stores is not the same amount of people that go into one walmart. Not to mention the fact that most BJs and Cosco items are too big to just slip in your pocket.

Cosco is a Chinese shipping company. Costco is a membership-based warehouse store.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Darrell Ross—Officer Walmart

What a title.

Probably looks like Blart Mall Cop.

 

[rbanke]

They stopped having them for a while, but recently added them all back.

Actually one of the few things I liked about Walmart was the old people saying hello. Still not enough to get me in the door of our local store, it is an insane level of trash and lowers my faith in humanity anytime I'd been there.

For some reason, our Target is almost like an upscale department store in comparison so that's where I go, although it's a ghost town most of the time.

 

[newshinycd]

Lines there are HORRIBLE. 30 lanes, 5 cashiers.

I don't even know why I go sometimes. I definitely don't go often.

What's worse is the assholes that take a buggy full of groceries through the self-checkout lines.