DaSilence

Zack, Laura, and Eli,

I've read your article a couple of times now, and I find it a little troubling.

Not because I think the reporting is bad, but I'm not the world's biggest fan of some of the points you try to make.

First and foremost, you spend a LOT of time comparing Walmart to other big box retailers based on property tax assessment vs. police call volume. The assertion that you make (but never say) is that Walmart is using "more" than their share because they pay less tax than other stores.

First, I'm going to assume that a percentage of the sales tax collected in these locations goes back to the city and county governments to fund these departments, so looking at property tax alone is misleading.

And second, I'm not sure I'm wild about the assertion that you should only be able to utilize police resources in line with your contribution to the local government via property and sales tax. Do poor people not deserve police protection from petty crime because they don't pay much in tax?

Am I, a long time LEO, going to refuse to investigate a minor vandalism at someone's house just because it's only 900 square feet and in a shitty neighborhood?

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Next, let's take some time to address that Walmart is fairly unique is that they're the only big-box retailer that's willing to build in these shitty neighborhoods. You ever see a shiny Target next to a housing project?

No?

Ever wonder why?

Walmart, by design, is in crappy neighborhoods (it's also in nice neighborhoods too). It's within walking distance of the projects, or just a short bus ride away. It does this on purpose.

Companies should do as much as they can to keep their properties in order before leaning on police, said Charles Fishman, author of The Wal-Mart Effect, a book about the retailer’s growth and social impact. He equated Walmart’s high volume of calls to the parents of a misbehaving 11-year-old who call 911 every time their child acts out.

You know, I really can't believe I'm defending Walmart here, but fuck Charles Fishman. Every company deserves to prosecute thieves. If you steal, you deserve everything that you get. This is one of the worst analogies I've ever read, and I'm frankly disappointed in you three for including it in your article.

The different between the two situations is that one is dealing with people who are actually breaking the law, and the other isn't. And the fact that you can't tell the difference makes me question both your integrity and your honesty.

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Next, I'm going to take Eli to task for bad data analysis.

In most cases, the Walmart stores were larger than the Targets. The Times accounted for the size difference by calculating the number of calls for every 10,000 square feet of store space. Even then, the Walmarts averaged more than three times the calls, producing about 30 per 10,000 square feet compared with only about nine at Target.

Dude, this is some deceptive shit, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you're going to try to do a meaningful comparison, you have to use either traffic numbers (how many people enter the store) or transaction numbers (how many people check out). Trying to compare one store to another based on square footage is deceptive at best.

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Finally, I want to address this nonsense:

Responding to Walmart has become so routine that officers show up without even being called. They drive slowly through the parking lot or stop to write unrelated reports. Other times they go inside and walk the aisles, or just buy a soda.

For patrol officers, these unsolicited visits to Walmarts are an easy decision, said Scott, the former Lauderhill police chief.

“Look, I either get called there later, or I go there now and prevent things,” he said.

The Times found more than 6,200 of these visits, on top of the other 16,800 calls.

Garafano, the former Walmart employee in Brandon, said he sometimes saw sheriff's patrol cars parked near the supercenter on East Brandon Boulevard, even when nothing was happening.

“It was almost like they were kind of just waiting to get a call,” he said.

Look, I know you're trying to push a narrative, and I appreciate that, but had you actually talked to a current patrol officer you'd learn why LEOs LOVE Walmart parking lots:

• They're clean
• They're huge
• They're well-lit
• They're almost always centrally located
• They always have great cell phone coverage

Why does this matter?

Because when I'm between calls and can get some paperwork done, this is PRECISELY the kind of place I want to stop and do it.

I can see around me, so no one can sneak up behind me and kill me.

I can get to anywhere I need to be in relatively little time.

And the cell modem in my trunk has a great connection to the network, so my computer system works right.

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All in all, not a bad article, but you got lazy, and that disappoints me.

I, as DA, would use my position and influence to lobby our leaders to pass gun sense legislation as well as other laws that would help on this front.

How do you reconcile this with your stated goal of reducing mass incarceration?

Do you support the conviction and imprisonment of gun owners who have committed no other crimes that possessing an otherwise prohibited rifle or handgun, large capacity magazine, or bringing a box of ammunition back to California from an out of state trip?

Also, the DA should be using the laws that are now on the books to keep guns out of the hands of folks who should no longer be trusted with guns

• Will you allow your prosecutors to plead cases for possession of a stolen firearm down to misdemeanors and therefore allowing the offender to avoid a jail or prison sentence? Or will you guarantee to always prosecute them to the maximum extent of the law?
• Will you allow plea deals to be offered to dismiss or reduce the charge of Felon in Possession of a Firearm?
• Will you allow plea deals to be offered to dismiss or reduce the charge of Possession of a Controlled Substance while Armed?
• Will you commit resources from your office to investigate and prosecute persons who attempt to purchase a firearm and are denied because of a previous felony conviction?

Let me give you some examples of how frugality is prized at Walmart.

• On the executive floor, you had to put a dime in the jar for every cup of coffee you drank.

• Senior execs and managers are regularly counseled to be sure that they're not driving too nice a car or wearing too nice a suit.

• Sam Walton's corporate car was a red Chevy 2500 with cloth seats, no AC, and 4 on the floor.

• Walmart did not own or use corporate jets until their insurance company forced them to do so in order to keep their key man insurance.

• Corporate travel dictates that if multiple employees are traveling together to meetings or whatnot, they sleep 2 to a room and in economy line hotels.

• In order to cut down on travel costs, Walmart's top 250 suppliers have to have staffed offices within 15 miles of the corporate campus in Bentonville.

Hardly. 17 years law enforcement. And I took more than my share of Walmart shoplifting calls on patrol.

They're annoying, but until I went in on a small business, I never really grasped how much of an issue shoplifting is to a business owner.

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