The Street has a story about one of the ways in which Walmart is looking to combat the epidemic of retail threat that it affecting its bottom line.
Walmart has closed 22 stores this year, two of them in Atlanta. But one of these stores, the Vine City location, is scheduled to reopen “with a major upgrade.” When it reopens its doors, it will have a pharmacy, a grocery store – and a police substation on the premises.
“Having a police substation in a Walmart is a first,” The Street writes, “but officials believe an increased police presence will help to prevent in-store crime and make shoppers feel safer. The substation will provide a place for police to charge their phones and body cameras, as well as have meetings and file documents.:
This is an approach that Walmart CEO Doug McMillon has alluded to in the past: “”I think local law enforcement being staffed and being a good partner is part of that equation, and that’s normally how we approach it,” he said last year. “If that’s not corrected over time, prices will be higher, and/or stores will close.”
KC’s View:
Tough times call for tough measures, and I think the laissez faire approach to retail crime isn’t good for the culture, the society, or for business. Authorities ought to be working with businesses to apply the William Bratton approach to crime-stopping: If you prevent the small crimes now, there will be fewer big crimes later.
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