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Scott Henry named chairman of Martz Group

Back Mountain real estate transactions for the week of March 16

<b>First Posted:</b> 3/23/2015

Convenience stores get robbed with such frequency, area residents seemingly treat all but the most bizarre, brazen or violent of the incidents casually, as if nothing can be done.

That’s a shame, because these presumably petty crimes can quickly escalate, resulting in injury or death. Each time a gun, or knife, gets shoved toward a clerk during the heist of some cigarette cartons or a small stack of bills, there’s a psychological cost, too. Equally harmful, and hard to calculate, is how repeat occurrences in a neighborhood might undermine its reputation and its occupants’ sense of security.

Those issues take on added importance lately in the Wyoming Valley, where Turkey Hill stores in Wilkes-Barre and Kingston have been hit 10 times since late January. Three of those holdups took place during a single week in March.

Other local convenience stores are not immune from the problem. As recently as Sunday, at around 10 a.m., a woman reportedly stepped behind the counter of a Speed Mart in Wilkes-Barre Township and made off with money from the cash register and cigarettes. She allegedly showed a large, curved knife.

For the protection of store employees, customers and police, the operators of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s easy-in, easy-out grocery and gas establishments should adopt and constantly refine strategies for deterring holdups. The Center for Problem-Oriented Policing has compiled a guide with crime-prevention suggestions specific to convenience stores. (Find it at www.popcenter.org.) Likewise, the Association for Convenience and Fuel Retailing, formerly the National Association of Convenience Stores, offers training materials, online tips and even site visits.

Has Turkey Hill, which intends to open a market on the Coal Street extension in Wilkes-Barre, fully embraced these safety tactics in all its regional outlets? That’s not immediately clear; a spokeswoman didn’t return our reporter’s phone calls seeking comment for an article in Monday’s edition. Perhaps its management has decided that publicity only fuels the problem.

Regardless, we hope the owners of convenience store chains, their employees and patrons will look at the facilities with fresh eyes and speak up for anti-crime measures such as these, provided by the Alexandria, Virginia-based retailing association:

• Define the store’s territory with landscaping and fences.

• Close off some parking lot entrances and doors at night.

• Post signs stating that the amount of cash on hand is limited.

• Use a drop safe.

• Use effective lighting both on the lot and in the store.

• Remove signs from windows to provide clear lines of visibility to the cashier.

• Consider installing gates, locks or turnstiles, if necessary.

In short, make it <em>inconvenient</em> to commit a robbery.

OUR VIEW Take away convenience of robbery