Shoplifting, vandalism and employee safety among concerns of Lynnwood stores, council learns

Participants discuss security issues during Nov. 15 Lynnwood City Council work session.

The Lynnwood City Council held a special roundtable session last week to discuss safety concerns with local businesses inside the city limits. Representatives from stores like Lowe’s, The Party Store and Fred Meyer were asked to speak about the concerns they have regarding safety in and around their stores.

“You’ve all been hand-chosen to be here and we appreciate that,” Council President Shannon Sessions said at the Nov. 15 meeting.

Lynnwood City Council President Shannon Sessions thanked store representatives for attending the meeting.

Members of the Lynnwood Police Department were also present to talk about crime from their end as well as answer store owners’ questions on how to mitigate some more common forms of misconduct.

The owner of The Party Store, located on the corner of 48th Avenue West and 196th Street Southwest, said he is constantly struggling with graffiti. Nic Li, a Lynnwood crime prevention specialist, said while it is the property owner’s responsibility to clean up graffiti that is created on private property, Lynnwood does have a volunteer program for those who may need help. In addition, the city works with local businesses who donate paint and supplies to those who might not be able to afford the cost of cleaning the graffiti themselves.

Li said not only is it important to cover the graffiti as soon as possible, but it should always be documented to the police.

“Take a photo,” he said. “Recording it is really important. Call us. We’ll come out and take a report.”

The Fred Meyer representative who spoke said the store sees all kinds of crime, almost on a daily basis. In the past few months, there has been a large uptick not only in only crime, but in erratic behavior from people the store employees have come in contact with.

“Fred Meyer takes safety as our utmost importance for our community and those who shop there,” he said. “For us at this store, Fred Meyer has helped us do a lot of security enhancements.”

One new security measure the store has had to implement has been a locking cart system. When a cart gets a certain distance away from a specific point, technology inside the cart is supposed to make the wheels lock up, making the cart impossible to steal unless one were to pick it up and carry it. However, that technology doesn’t always work, and he said in the last few months, the location has gone from 500 carts to roughly 100 carts.

The representative said that multiple times, the store employees have rented a U-Haul truck and driven around the neighborhoods looking for stolen shopping carts. While they have had some success doing this, many of the carts remain gone forever.

In addition, the store representative said the corporation has had to invest a lot of money locking up items that get stolen frequently.

“Of course that’s something that really affects the company,” he said. “We don’t want to become a completely locked-down business.”

Items ranging from baby formula to sleeping bags to Legos have had to be placed behind glass partitions due to the amount of theft the store location has seen in the past year. Because of this, the representative said shopping at the site has become much more aggravating for regular customers who have to call on employees to have essential items unlocked.

“Drug use is rampant,” he continued. “We’re to a point now where we might have to lock the bathrooms.”

Some customers, as well as those without homes frequenting the property, have become more of a danger to many employees, he said. So far this year, three employees have had knives pulled on them while on shift, and he said that even he had a gun pulled on him when he asked someone who was begging for money in the parking lot to leave.

Lynnwood Police Chief Cole Langdon offered tips for business owners.

While crime is unfortunately never going to completely stop in Lynnwood, Police Chief Cole Langdon said his entire staff is dedicated to doing as much as they can to prevent theft and help business owners who have been victimized by any kind of crime.

“I think we stand out from a lot of our peers because of our commitment,” he said.

While the city does have a non-emergency phone number, Langdon said, he does not encourage store owners to use it for most incidents. Instead of dialing that number, he urged everyone to instead dial 911. Although in the past it was thought that 911 is only to be used in dire situations, Langdon said calling that number will ensure an officer arrives on scene much faster, even if no one is in immediate danger.

The non-emergency number, he said, should be used for things like graffiti, where it’s likely the suspect is not still in the immediate vicinity. For most other situations — from loiterers who won’t leave, to shoplifting, to a customer passed out in the bathroom — 911 will dispatch an officer as soon as one is available.

It’s also safer for store employees to have law enforcement deal with situations, because even with individuals who may be passed out, Langdon said it’s never obvious what kind of weapons they may have on them that they could pull should they be startled awake.

The Fred Meyer representative also shared some tips for avoiding theft. A great tip he learned, he said, is to alternate the direction of hangers in the clothing sections. This way, a thief cannot quickly grab a handful of clothes and pull them off the rack, because the hangers will be in opposite directions.

“Make sure you’re being a good witness,” he said, regarding instances where employees may be helpless in stopping a theft in progress.

He also urged all business owners and employees to contact law enforcement immediately for incidents, as the sooner they’re called, the more likely they are to catch the perpetrator.

— By Lauren Reichenbach

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