[Vision2020] WalMart and Crime - wakeupwalmart.com

[TIM RIGSBY]

Today, our campaign 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:

1,145 Assaults
153 Sex Crimes
23 Kidnappings (or Attempts)
9 Rapes (or Attempts)
4 Homicides (or Attempts)

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.

Today, 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

" 'Politics is the art of controlling your environment.' That is one of the 
key things I learned in these years, and I learned it the hard way. Anybody 
who thinks that 'it doesn't matter who's President' has never been Drafted 
and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid War on the other side of 
the World -- or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public 
property -- or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons -- or 
locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and 
twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it 
matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will 
wish you had voted." - Hunter S. Thompson

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