Pharmacy Robberies and Customer Killings Increasing

[schufflerbot]

to clarify: my wife does like to shoot and has an inherent appreciation for firearms from her father, i dont think the issue is the firearm itself. I also think that if i were to ask her to, she would carry daily... however, i dont want her to just have a paperweight in her purse, i want her to be excited about it.

perhaps im asking too much (one can lead a horse to water...) perhaps over time she will learn to appreciate her 2A right. i guess i would just feel better if she were as interested as i am in becoming proficient with her carry weapon and being as prepared as humanly possible for any potential threats.

i will continue to bring it up (gently) in conversations and see what develops.

[bluejay71]

I am frequently working in pharmacies. It is a dangerous environment. Unknown people coming up your front end and the government coming up your back end. The independent pharmacies (where I tend to frequent) are the biggest targets because the BGs know that the chains have an easy method to communicate store to store. The easiest place to try to pull off a fake script is to go to an indy. It is a scary thing to tell a patient, "we can't fill this" or "you need to call your dr about this"...or whatever is right in the situation and wonder how they are going to react.
In the places where I worked, I have not been told a particular policy regarding firearms, but as soon as my CHL arrives, it won't matter. As someone stated already, no one will know unless a bad situation occurs. And then, I will be glad to have a chance to go home to my family and live another day to find another job.
Lumpy scrubs and white coats with pockets full of stuff provide amply room to conceal IWB appendix or cross-draw carry. Wide leg scrubs or dress pants-ankle carry. Dress pants, gun belt, white coat-no one will know it is there. There is no reason not to carry.

Then, I worry about our physician friends to whom I've just told this BG or addict, by law, to go see. I sure hope they are wise enough to take care of themselves, too.

[VMI77]

Clearly the way to solve this problem is take guns out of the equation. If robbers couldn't arm themselves, they wouldn't be shooting people.

Yes, that's how crime was eliminated in the UK. Well, that and making it illegal to harm criminals. Apparently the UK has some of the nicest criminals in the world.

[Beiruty]

I think Pharmacists should work behind bullet proof glass. The risks are too high.

[Excaliber]

Clearly the way to solve this problem is take guns out of the equation. If robbers couldn't arm themselves, they wouldn't be shooting people.

Yes, that's how crime was eliminated in the UK. Well, that and making it illegal harm criminals. Apparently the UK has some of the nicest criminals in the world.

They also eliminated a major portion of their crimes by a stroke of genius - deciding to count only those closed by arrest in their statistical reporting.

[hpcatx]

I think Pharmacists should work behind bullet proof glass. The risks are too high.

While practical for the safety of the pharmacist, I don't think this would go over well for the businesses; people seeking prescription information might be put off by having a piece of glass in between a private discussion. They're already used to a bit more intimacy.

[speedsix]

...small price to pay to save even ONE life...

[chasfm11]

They also eliminated a major portion of their crimes by a stroke of genius - deciding to count only those closed by arrest in their statistical reporting.

What a deal! The more BGs that they don't catch, the better the reports look. That is incentive to do good police work if I ever saw it.

[JeepGuy79]

Anyone see the news lately about the pharmacist in Michigan who used a handgun to defend himself against armed robbers??? One of the gunman pointed the gun at him and tried to shoot him while he was calling 911 but the gun misfired. He returned fire (3 shots) missing the assailant, and he and his accomplice soon ran out the door empty handed. More importantly they left without hurting anyone. To me the guy was a hero.

Of course Walgreens fired him.

I worked for Walgreens and this is exactly how they appreciate their staff. They have no security guards, no emergency call pendants like gas station attendants have.... All you have for "protection" is a phone mounted up on a wall or counter that you can dial 911 on and hope the police come in time to catch the guys leaving after they stole everything and killed you and your coworkers.

The guy filed a lawsuit against walgreens for wrongful termination but I doubt he will win. They have in the handbooks and training videos stuff about escalating violent situations, and what to do in a robbery... and of course their policy on no guns and how any employee with one on them or in their locker will be terminated immediately. Boo Walgreens. Their actions clearly say that if their employees are robbed and shot at to just lay there and die.

[Keith B]

Anyone see the news lately about the pharmacist in Michigan who used a handgun to defend himself against armed robbers??? One of the gunman pointed the gun at him and tried to shoot him while he was calling 911 but the gun misfired. He returned fire (3 shots) missing the assailant, and he and his accomplice soon ran out the door empty handed. More importantly they left without hurting anyone. To me the guy was a hero.

Of course Walgreens fired him.

I worked for Walgreens and this is exactly how they appreciate their staff. They have no security guards, no emergency call pendants like gas station attendants have.... All you have for "protection" is a phone mounted up on a wall or counter that you can dial 911 on and hope the police come in time to catch the guys leaving after they stole everything and killed you and your coworkers.

The guy filed a lawsuit against walgreens for wrongful termination but I doubt he will win. They have in the handbooks and training videos stuff about escalating violent situations, and what to do in a robbery... and of course their policy on no guns and how any employee with one on them or in their locker will be terminated immediately. Boo Walgreens. Their actions clearly say that if their employees are robbed and shot at to just lay there and die.

Thread is running here viewtopic.php?f=7&t=45337" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and Good Morning America did a piece on it this morning " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[VMI77]

Here's what looks like could be another reason why some companies provide no security for employees: http://www.sjvgreens.org/archive05/dead_peasant.shtml --but it's an article from 2002 and may no longer be relevant. I tried to find the article on the Houston Chronicle site but while numerous sites provide a link to the Houston paper, the link returns a not found error. There is another source here http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-84829828.html. Looks to be the same but I didn't feel like signing up for the 7-day trial in order to see the entire article. I couldn't find it debunked anywhere, but then that leaves me making something of an argument from ignorance, and of course, proves nothing. Also, the article refers to litigation and I don't know how any of it turned out --supposedly dead peasant insurance is illegal in Texas, but some companies try to dodge the law by taking out the insurance in other states. The first linked article claims:

"Meanwhile, National Convenience Stores also has bought accidental death policies on its employees. When an employee died at work, such as in a robbery, NCS received $250,000, Clearman said.

The insurance came to light after an NCS manager died in a car wreck going to get change for the store, said Clearman, who represented the estate of the deceased employee, Ramon Pamez. The case is set for trial beginning Monday in state district court here.

Because it had insurance, NCS did not have incentive to provide security at the convenience stores, Clearman said.

At the same time, Diamond Shamrock was installing bulletproof glass and putting in two employees at night, Clearman said.

Between 1991 to 1995, Diamond Shamrock had one on-the-job death in Texas while NCS had nine, Clearman said."

[schufflerbot]

accidental insurance??

now THAT is disturbing. I think that is something that needs to be disclosed to employees.

[Keith B]

Playing Devil's advocate, there are cases where the employer takes out an insurance policy on the individual as their form of life insurance from the company. This is usually small companies though, as large companies get group rates and list the individual's designated beneficiary and NOT the company.

If the company is doing this and keeping the money, then in the words of Sylvester the Cat 'That's disss-picccc-able'