Prevent holiday-season crime at your business [Semi-Barf Alert]

Miami Herald (FL) ^ | 11/19/06 | Carmen Caldwell

[Monterrosa-24]

Thanks for the stats!

[par4]

from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Winn-Dixie Supermarket parking lot at 3275 Coral Way. You will receive a $50 voucher

Think that they'll get pissed if I park myself, oh, say around 3325 Coral Way and make cash counter offers?

[Cobra64]

First step, buy a .45!

Yup. Only a .45 will do. Anything else is totally worthless, and no more deadly than a paper cut.

[conservativecorner]

You do not walk away from a .45, and I have that from a good authority...an EMT with years of calls under his belt.

[Hazcat]

bartered goods for transactions

Make sure you turn in the TAXES for this 'barter' otherwise you will go to IRS hell.

[melancholy]

You will receive a $50 voucher for each gun you turn in, no questions asked. So, if you have a gun that is just sitting around, drop it off.

Gosh! These liberals are treating us like terrorists! Remember? In Iraq, after knocking off Saddam, our troops had buy-back-weapon-collection points in Sadr City. Our troops used almost exactly the same honey-dripping message except the price was in the $hundreds, in cash!

[Condor51]

I didn't mean "Miami", though from what I see posted that ain't so safe either - my specific reference was to "Miami-Dade".

And I believe the actors, etc you mentioned are going to Miami Beach - which is practically a Gated Community - not "Miami".

[Stegall Tx]

Don't you **HATE** posting an article where everyone replies with such fervor at you as if you had written the article? Thanks for taking the heat!

Here goes:

"It was quite enlightening to learn how people around the country feel about their guns. Several felt insulted by my comment that ''in 26 years of crime prevention I had not seen anything good regarding owning a gun.'' I should have clarified that my 26 years have been in Miami-Dade, which is apparently very different from the rest of the country.

"What many of these readers do not understand is that residents of Miami-Dade County prefer to work with their law enforcement, working to prevent crime by cooperating with their neighbors and using their intelligence to avoid becoming victims of crime. This is a lot more challenging than just owning a gun. "

I was one of these fools who tried to reason with this person. I see how well that being nice worked out. Since I disagree with the high and mighty "Citizens Crime Watch" {whose motto apparently is "We'll watch the crime, but won't do anything to stop the criminals"}, I find that I prefer NOT to work with law enforcement, I DON'T work to prevent crime by working with my neighbors, and I DON'T use my intelligence to avoid becoming a victim of crime.

Well, let's see how well the "give up your guns and hope the criminals go away" method of crime prevention works out in Miami-Dade. Anybody taking bets?

[subterfuge]

Oh Carmen, you ignorant airhead. You seem so oblivious to the fact that most theft is an inside job. What a worthless, feelgood, "I'm-helping-people!" waste of ink and paper article.

[subterfuge]

Keep your cash register in plain view from the outside so that it can be monitored by the police and passersby after business hours.

This is probably the absolute stupidest suggestion sensitive little Carmen could make. Perps just smash into the front of the store with a stolen car, snatch the register and they're gone. Hasn't she ever watched America's Most Wanted? Oh wait, she doesn't have to, half of that show is about Miami.

[Condor51]

"slack jawed inbred morons "

***Why must there always be hate?***

I'm sorry, I can't help it.

I'm mentally scarred by the three days I spent in Cross City, Dixie County, FL near the beautiful Swanee River back in 1988.

It's not that the locals weren't nice, it's just that I thought I was in a "Deliverance" flashback and I kept hearing banjo music. ;-)

[subterfuge]

Cletus you slack-jawed Yokel!! BTW, how is "Brandeen" doin'?

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Hey! Brandine and me's been doin fine!

[Shooter 2.5]

Where did he say all of that? Buying a .45 is an excellent choice. It has power without the magnum recoil. I have a 110 pound Daughter-in-Law who uses factory loads in her carry pistol with no problem.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The author claims to have 26 years experience in crime prevention. Later he claims his experience is in law enforcement.
Which is it? The two are almost 180 degrees out of phase with each other.

[Neo-Luddite]

• Remind them that they should cooperate to avoid harm.

NOT ALWAYS GOOD ADVICE

NEVER GO WITH THE ROBBER even if ordered to do so. I'm not a believer in stats but an employee's odds once they become an abductee/hostage from a retail setting are less than 50/50. It's usually the opener/closer of the store with keys and safe access they get, too.

I used to be a manager in a retail setting for a large printing/shipping company with storefronts all over the place in urban areas (open mostly 24/7). I was ashamed that, following an area robbery, the best I could do for my people was buy them all big fat Maglites at my own expense. We had tip-top video and panic buttons I checked all the time---but what does that do, really? I called the police to ask for advice and help and was told that the detectice working on the case was on vacation. So much for all that OT I put in for them when they needed stuff done yesterday (training materials, handbooks, video dupes, etc.).

Best advice for retail folks is RUN don't walk from RETAIL.
Unless you own a nice gun shop/range with a good discount bin and +p ammo IN STOCK.

[RetiredNavy]

Live in coral gables, unfortunately I will be in Chicago on the 2nd, otherwise I would go down to the "buy back" site and see what I could pick up cheap. A $75 Colt Peacemaker is my goal.