dwarven1
Lonely Mountain Arms
http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/local/ci_3719541
Store clerks [should read sheep!] face as much danger as police officers
By J.J. Huggins
Police officers and firefighters are widely considered to have dangerous jobs.
But what about convenience store clerks?
"I think nationwide, when you look at convenience-store workers or gas-station workers at night, it's more dangerous than being a police officer," said Gardner Police Lt. Det. Gerald J. Poirier.
The reason, according to Poirier, is the frequency with which violent suspects rob stores.
It happened in broad daylight in Leominster just last week.
A knife-wielding suspect allegedly walked into the Lil Peach Convenience Food Store on North Main Street around 6:15 a.m. on Monday and stole about $300 from the cash register, according to police.
The robber, who police have identified as Daniel Rodriguez, 25, of 17 Federal St., Fitchburg, told the clerk, Hakim Lashkar, to give him the money or he would kill him, Lashkar said during an interview.
Lashkar said the incident terrified him.
"I said, 'Take the money, don't kill me,'" he recalled.
Lashkar, who has worked at the store for about eight months, said he never feared going to work prior to the incident, and has never been robbed before.
"This was the first time," he said. "Everybody who has come here has been good."
A handful of employees of other area convenience stores interviewed recently said they have never been robbed, but have procedures to follow if they are.
Employees at South Street Variety on South Street in Fitchburg have Mace stashed behind the counter in case they need to defend themselves during a robbery, according to store manager Bob Patel.
"We always keep it handy," he said.
But for their own safety, the employees are supposed to refrain from fighting a robber, Patel said.
"We don't fight with him, but if possible, we'll get the license plate number" of the get-away car, he said.
Elyas Mughal, who works at the Citgo gas station and convenience store on Route 2 in Fitchburg, said he often worries for his safety, but it's a fear he's come to accept.
"We do have to make a living, we have to do something," he said.
Like Patel, Mughal said his store's policy is to remain passive during a stick-up.
"If somebody comes in with a gun, we say, 'Help yourself,'" he said. "When you see some kind of death trap, don't argue with him. We have insurance and everything. He doesn't care if he shoots somebody, it's not worth it."
Bobby Casaletto, an employee at the Cumberland Farms store and Gulf gas station on Route 13 in Leominster, said he's ordered to cooperate during a hold-up.
"We're supposed to give them what they want," he said.
The store is equipped with a silent alarm to alert the police right away, he said.
Casaletto is occasionally concerned for his safety while on the job, he said.
"Usually on the weekends and at nighttime, because we get a lot of drunk people," he said. "Sometimes I get a little scared, but usually I don't worry about it."
Bobby Patel -- no relation to Bob Patel -- said he doesn't go to work at The Turnout Convenience and Video, also on Route 13 in Leominster, feeling afraid that he's going to become a robbery victim.
"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen," he said. "Around here, it's pretty quiet."
Following orders
Some local veteran police officers agree with the submissive attitudes of the clerks, and say they frown upon people who want to act like heroes and fight off robbers.
"My word of advice is never disobey a man with a gun," Poirer, the Gardner lieutenant said. "They're getting paid minimum wage, why should they even bother (fighting back)? I wouldn't."
Most store clerks escape the holdups without getting attacked because they do what the robber tells them to do, Poirier said.
Leominster Police Lt. Det. Michael Pellechia echoed Poirier's sentiment.
"Give him the money," Pellechia said. "They're going in there armed for a reason, so it's a not a good practice to try and fight back."
Fitchburg Police Sgt. Glenn C. Fossa offered one word of advice for how to act during a robbery.
"Cooperate," he said.
Because most clerks will hand the money over without a fight, it's easy to rob a store, which is probably one of the main reasons why it happens so often, Poirier said.
Leominster had 22 robberies in 2005, and eight so far this year, according to Pellechia.
Fitchburg had a total of 60 robberies in 2005, according to preliminary statistics provided by the police department.
But the numbers from both departments include all robberies, not just armed robberies.
Specific statistics on the amount of armed robberies in Leominster and Fitchburg were not available.
Gardner sees about one or two armed robberies in a typical year, Poirier said.
But they had 13 in 2003, and Poirier attributes the number to a spike in Heroin use that year.
Police caught most of the suspects, and "every single person we apprehended later confessed to having a drug habit," Poirier said.
Fossa said he couldn't label people who rob stores as "any one group."
But, he said, "the common denominator appears to be desperation for cash, and they have elected to do that crime as opposed to work."
Store owners can do several things to deter criminals, police say.
One of the most obvious is installing surveillance cameras -- and making sure they work -- Poirier said.
Owners can go even further and set up an audio system that is directly connected to 911, so all the clerk has to do is push a button and the 911 operator can hear the robbery taking place, Poirier said.
They can also install Plexiglas in front of the counter to block a brazen perpetrator from attacking the clerk, Poirier said.
Having a pay phone outside of a store can make the building a more desirable target for robbers, he said.
"A lot these criminals use these phones as staging areas and watch until the customer base is down, and then they'll make their move," Poirier said. "A couple of times I have subpoenaed the records from the pay phone and saw that no one was on the phone, they were just pretending to use it."
Store owners should refrain from hanging too many signs in the windows or setting up displays that will block the view from people outside of the store looking in, Fossa said.
"Blocking your windows so police officers or passersby cannot see is not recommended," he said.
Stores should also empty their cash register often, so if a robber does strike, they won't get much money, Fossa said.
Robbers might even know if the store keeps a large sum of money in the drawer, he said.
"Often times the people who do these kinds of crimes will do some kind of research -- it's not unusual for them to get information from former employees about the cash," Fossa said.
Not enough protection
Most stores, especially the corporate chains, do very little to protect their employees, Poirier charged.
Poirier, during many investigations, has gone to review surveillance footage, only to find out the store's equipment is outdated and the tape is unreadable, he said.
Sometimes the cameras are pointed at the clerk, rather than people coming into the store, just to see if the clerk is stealing, he said.
"There are great digital systems out there these days, yet these huge national chains could care less about their employees," he said. "They have no crime prevention system, no policy, no rules, no nothing. All they're looking at is their profit margin, that's all they care about."
An answer to the problem could be for the legislature to enact a law that requires stores to install "crime-prevention" systems, Poirier said.
Poirier likened the idea to laws requiring gas stations to have fire suppression systems.
"How many gas stations catch fire compared to how many get robbed?" Poirier asked. "For every one gas station that catches fire, you probably have 1,000 get robbed. It's going to take a major lawsuit against one of these national chains before they enact some of this legislation. It's going take a human life, it's sad."
Store clerks [should read sheep!] face as much danger as police officers
By J.J. Huggins
Police officers and firefighters are widely considered to have dangerous jobs.
But what about convenience store clerks?
"I think nationwide, when you look at convenience-store workers or gas-station workers at night, it's more dangerous than being a police officer," said Gardner Police Lt. Det. Gerald J. Poirier.
The reason, according to Poirier, is the frequency with which violent suspects rob stores.
It happened in broad daylight in Leominster just last week.
A knife-wielding suspect allegedly walked into the Lil Peach Convenience Food Store on North Main Street around 6:15 a.m. on Monday and stole about $300 from the cash register, according to police.
The robber, who police have identified as Daniel Rodriguez, 25, of 17 Federal St., Fitchburg, told the clerk, Hakim Lashkar, to give him the money or he would kill him, Lashkar said during an interview.
Lashkar said the incident terrified him.
"I said, 'Take the money, don't kill me,'" he recalled.
Lashkar, who has worked at the store for about eight months, said he never feared going to work prior to the incident, and has never been robbed before.
"This was the first time," he said. "Everybody who has come here has been good."
A handful of employees of other area convenience stores interviewed recently said they have never been robbed, but have procedures to follow if they are.
Employees at South Street Variety on South Street in Fitchburg have Mace stashed behind the counter in case they need to defend themselves during a robbery, according to store manager Bob Patel.
"We always keep it handy," he said.
But for their own safety, the employees are supposed to refrain from fighting a robber, Patel said.
"We don't fight with him, but if possible, we'll get the license plate number" of the get-away car, he said.
Elyas Mughal, who works at the Citgo gas station and convenience store on Route 2 in Fitchburg, said he often worries for his safety, but it's a fear he's come to accept.
"We do have to make a living, we have to do something," he said.
Like Patel, Mughal said his store's policy is to remain passive during a stick-up.
"If somebody comes in with a gun, we say, 'Help yourself,'" he said. "When you see some kind of death trap, don't argue with him. We have insurance and everything. He doesn't care if he shoots somebody, it's not worth it."
Bobby Casaletto, an employee at the Cumberland Farms store and Gulf gas station on Route 13 in Leominster, said he's ordered to cooperate during a hold-up.
"We're supposed to give them what they want," he said.
The store is equipped with a silent alarm to alert the police right away, he said.
Casaletto is occasionally concerned for his safety while on the job, he said.
"Usually on the weekends and at nighttime, because we get a lot of drunk people," he said. "Sometimes I get a little scared, but usually I don't worry about it."
Bobby Patel -- no relation to Bob Patel -- said he doesn't go to work at The Turnout Convenience and Video, also on Route 13 in Leominster, feeling afraid that he's going to become a robbery victim.
"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen," he said. "Around here, it's pretty quiet."
Following orders
Some local veteran police officers agree with the submissive attitudes of the clerks, and say they frown upon people who want to act like heroes and fight off robbers.
"My word of advice is never disobey a man with a gun," Poirer, the Gardner lieutenant said. "They're getting paid minimum wage, why should they even bother (fighting back)? I wouldn't."
Most store clerks escape the holdups without getting attacked because they do what the robber tells them to do, Poirier said.
Leominster Police Lt. Det. Michael Pellechia echoed Poirier's sentiment.
"Give him the money," Pellechia said. "They're going in there armed for a reason, so it's a not a good practice to try and fight back."
Fitchburg Police Sgt. Glenn C. Fossa offered one word of advice for how to act during a robbery.
"Cooperate," he said.
Because most clerks will hand the money over without a fight, it's easy to rob a store, which is probably one of the main reasons why it happens so often, Poirier said.
Leominster had 22 robberies in 2005, and eight so far this year, according to Pellechia.
Fitchburg had a total of 60 robberies in 2005, according to preliminary statistics provided by the police department.
But the numbers from both departments include all robberies, not just armed robberies.
Specific statistics on the amount of armed robberies in Leominster and Fitchburg were not available.
Gardner sees about one or two armed robberies in a typical year, Poirier said.
But they had 13 in 2003, and Poirier attributes the number to a spike in Heroin use that year.
Police caught most of the suspects, and "every single person we apprehended later confessed to having a drug habit," Poirier said.
Fossa said he couldn't label people who rob stores as "any one group."
But, he said, "the common denominator appears to be desperation for cash, and they have elected to do that crime as opposed to work."
Store owners can do several things to deter criminals, police say.
One of the most obvious is installing surveillance cameras -- and making sure they work -- Poirier said.
Owners can go even further and set up an audio system that is directly connected to 911, so all the clerk has to do is push a button and the 911 operator can hear the robbery taking place, Poirier said.
They can also install Plexiglas in front of the counter to block a brazen perpetrator from attacking the clerk, Poirier said.
Having a pay phone outside of a store can make the building a more desirable target for robbers, he said.
"A lot these criminals use these phones as staging areas and watch until the customer base is down, and then they'll make their move," Poirier said. "A couple of times I have subpoenaed the records from the pay phone and saw that no one was on the phone, they were just pretending to use it."
Store owners should refrain from hanging too many signs in the windows or setting up displays that will block the view from people outside of the store looking in, Fossa said.
"Blocking your windows so police officers or passersby cannot see is not recommended," he said.
Stores should also empty their cash register often, so if a robber does strike, they won't get much money, Fossa said.
Robbers might even know if the store keeps a large sum of money in the drawer, he said.
"Often times the people who do these kinds of crimes will do some kind of research -- it's not unusual for them to get information from former employees about the cash," Fossa said.
Not enough protection
Most stores, especially the corporate chains, do very little to protect their employees, Poirier charged.
Poirier, during many investigations, has gone to review surveillance footage, only to find out the store's equipment is outdated and the tape is unreadable, he said.
Sometimes the cameras are pointed at the clerk, rather than people coming into the store, just to see if the clerk is stealing, he said.
"There are great digital systems out there these days, yet these huge national chains could care less about their employees," he said. "They have no crime prevention system, no policy, no rules, no nothing. All they're looking at is their profit margin, that's all they care about."
An answer to the problem could be for the legislature to enact a law that requires stores to install "crime-prevention" systems, Poirier said.
Poirier likened the idea to laws requiring gas stations to have fire suppression systems.
"How many gas stations catch fire compared to how many get robbed?" Poirier asked. "For every one gas station that catches fire, you probably have 1,000 get robbed. It's going to take a major lawsuit against one of these national chains before they enact some of this legislation. It's going take a human life, it's sad."
![[rolleyes]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/042.gif "Roll Eyes [rolleyes]")
Frickin' idiot reporter... does he think that all the goblins can't read??
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
Oh wait...
..mental defectives...
