4 ms·

If they pay sales tax, that should more than cover policing costs. I find it hard to fault them for calling the police on shoplifting, even of $2 items, since

by rdl 10y ago

If they pay sales tax, that should more than cover policing costs. I find it hard to fault them for calling the police on shoplifting, even of $2 items, since that's the kind of product they sell.

koolba 10y ago
> I find it hard to fault them for calling the police on shoplifting, even of $2 items, since that's the kind of product they sell. I'd take it a step further and say good job on actually following through with it. Otherwise what's the alternative? A private police force for Wal-Mart?
- crazypyro 10y ago
  In my opinion, it seems the police hadn't been able to effectively do their job in the past (for whatever reason), causing other retailers to look into private security options, yet now that Wal-Mart has essentially forced the police uphold the entirety of the laws (such as theft for small items), the police are complaining that nobody else is making them do those things. It likely comes down to a lack of proper resources given to the police departments....
  - monochromatic 10y ago
    > Wal-Mart has essentially forced the police uphold the entirety of the laws Good! That is their job after all.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- tiatia 10y ago
  "Otherwise what's the alternative? A private police force for Wal-Mart?" Yes. I mean, lets assume, I rent a small house bc I am poor. And you are rich and build a palace, a show off of wealth. Then the police shall protect all your wealth 24/7 and the public pay for it? What is the alternative?
Torgo 10y ago
Businesses like bars are regulated more stringently because they are particularly burdensome to the community in terms of crime, law enforcement. So, there are precedents.
stellar678 10y ago
If Walmart decided they wanted to run an open-air store with no walls, no staff, and self-checkout - would it seem reasonable for them to call the police for every person who walked away without paying for their items? The difference is only in degree. Obviously other stores have figured out how to avoid rampantly abusing community police resources, so Walmart should be expected to step up to the plate and do the same.
- wang_li 10y ago
  Walmart's sin here isn't lack of policy/procedure/strategy. It's serving poor customers. We're told frequently that poverty and crime go hand in hand, why should we be surprised that people who provide services to those in poverty are also subjected to increased crime victimization. And as they pay property and sales taxes, they're entitled to the same protections as anyone else.
  - mgkimsal 10y ago
    > And as they pay property and sales taxes They often fight their local assessment, and argue it down as much as possible. ============= At its retail stores, windowless concrete boxes that carry a low value for property-tax purposes, the company saved an average of $40,000 a store where it filed a challenge, the report found. The distribution center savings averaged $289,000 for each challenge, it said. The report suggested that Wal-Mart saves about $3 million annually from challenging property tax bills, a small sum compared with the company’s revenue, nearly $1 billion a day. ============= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/business/10prop.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/business/10prop.html?_r=0 Yes, this is 10 years old now, but not sure there's been much of a corporate culture change to stop doing this. $40k would definitely go a long way towards funding a police officer in many areas.
    - whoopdedo 10y ago
      Even so, a Walmart store carries significant economic weight in a community. The relatively lower property tax bill will still be very large. They will often be in the top-5 employers after the government and hospitals. And there won't be any other nearby business that can provide the same quantity of affordable consumer goods, so community leaders will fear losing a Walmart.
elbigbad 10y ago
>If they pay sales tax, that should more than cover policing costs. I don't think this logically follows. They may in fact be using more police resources than their sales taxes pay for, but either way you can't just say that because they pay sales tax they cover policing costs.
ryanobjc 10y ago
not so, often policing is covered by local income tax, and sales taxes goes to the state. For example, in San Francisco, about 0.1% of the sales tax goes to the city & county. The article also noted that policing costs at walmart exceed property tax paid.
- ryanobjc 10y ago
  i just had a look at the SF budget, on a yearly general fund revenue of 4.1 billion, $133m of that came from sales and use taxes. And what about states without sales tax? So there is no support for local government than just local property tax.

by rdl 10y ago

If they pay sales tax, that should more than cover policing costs. I find it hard to fault them for calling the police on shoplifting, even of $2 items, since that's the kind of product they sell.

koolba 10y ago

> I find it hard to fault them for calling the police on shoplifting, even of $2 items, since that's the kind of product they sell. I'd take it a step further and say good job on actually following through with it. Otherwise what's the alternative? A private police force for Wal-Mart?

crazypyro 10y ago
In my opinion, it seems the police hadn't been able to effectively do their job in the past (for whatever reason), causing other retailers to look into private security options, yet now that Wal-Mart has essentially forced the police uphold the entirety of the laws (such as theft for small items), the police are complaining that nobody else is making them do those things. It likely comes down to a lack of proper resources given to the police departments....
- monochromatic 10y ago
  > Wal-Mart has essentially forced the police uphold the entirety of the laws Good! That is their job after all.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
tiatia 10y ago
"Otherwise what's the alternative? A private police force for Wal-Mart?" Yes. I mean, lets assume, I rent a small house bc I am poor. And you are rich and build a palace, a show off of wealth. Then the police shall protect all your wealth 24/7 and the public pay for it? What is the alternative?

Torgo 10y ago

Businesses like bars are regulated more stringently because they are particularly burdensome to the community in terms of crime, law enforcement. So, there are precedents.

stellar678 10y ago

If Walmart decided they wanted to run an open-air store with no walls, no staff, and self-checkout - would it seem reasonable for them to call the police for every person who walked away without paying for their items? The difference is only in degree. Obviously other stores have figured out how to avoid rampantly abusing community police resources, so Walmart should be expected to step up to the plate and do the same.

wang_li 10y ago
Walmart's sin here isn't lack of policy/procedure/strategy. It's serving poor customers. We're told frequently that poverty and crime go hand in hand, why should we be surprised that people who provide services to those in poverty are also subjected to increased crime victimization. And as they pay property and sales taxes, they're entitled to the same protections as anyone else.
- mgkimsal 10y ago
  > And as they pay property and sales taxes They often fight their local assessment, and argue it down as much as possible. ============= At its retail stores, windowless concrete boxes that carry a low value for property-tax purposes, the company saved an average of $40,000 a store where it filed a challenge, the report found. The distribution center savings averaged $289,000 for each challenge, it said. The report suggested that Wal-Mart saves about $3 million annually from challenging property tax bills, a small sum compared with the company’s revenue, nearly $1 billion a day. ============= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/business/10prop.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/business/10prop.html?_r=0 Yes, this is 10 years old now, but not sure there's been much of a corporate culture change to stop doing this. $40k would definitely go a long way towards funding a police officer in many areas.
  - whoopdedo 10y ago
    Even so, a Walmart store carries significant economic weight in a community. The relatively lower property tax bill will still be very large. They will often be in the top-5 employers after the government and hospitals. And there won't be any other nearby business that can provide the same quantity of affordable consumer goods, so community leaders will fear losing a Walmart.

elbigbad 10y ago

>If they pay sales tax, that should more than cover policing costs. I don't think this logically follows. They may in fact be using more police resources than their sales taxes pay for, but either way you can't just say that because they pay sales tax they cover policing costs.

ryanobjc 10y ago

not so, often policing is covered by local income tax, and sales taxes goes to the state. For example, in San Francisco, about 0.1% of the sales tax goes to the city & county. The article also noted that policing costs at walmart exceed property tax paid.

ryanobjc 10y ago
i just had a look at the SF budget, on a yearly general fund revenue of 4.1 billion, $133m of that came from sales and use taxes. And what about states without sales tax? So there is no support for local government than just local property tax.