Blake Shuart: Large retailers should beef up security

The news these days can be downright scary for parents of young children. How many times must we see the same stories about children vanishing into thin air? About FBI stings of sex trafficking rings? About creepy men stalking and photographing our children while out in public? About children being followed home from bus stops by sex offenders? About women being overtaken in large parking lots and robbed with several children in tow, or having one of their kids forced into a fleeing car?

The gut reaction is to be shocked and angry. A wave of thankfulness follows closely behind: It wasn’t us. But what sets in next is a feeling that won’t go away. It lurks about in our head as we toss and turn underneath the sheets and follows just a step or two behind us when we’re out in public. This is particularly true for women. It’s a feeling of utter helplessness, and it lingers in malls, parking lots, large retail chains, parks, carnivals, concerts and just about everywhere else people may freely congregate. Child predators are seemingly everywhere.

There is no quick solution. Vigilance and extreme caution go a long way, but the risk remains. These attacks are carefully orchestrated. Predators are often one step ahead. While we’re living our lives as carefully as we can, they are busy planning and watching.

There is one thing that can be done. The mega retailers are a hot spot for these vile crimes. The retailers benefit from drawing lots of people onto their property, most of whom are spending money and contributing to their vast profits. But some of them are sex offenders – predators who choose places with lots of children and lax security as optimal locations for their crimes.

These mega retailers – you know their names by heart – should beef up security immediately to protect the families that contribute so heavily to their profits. They should hire an extra guard to patrol the parking lots on foot during business hours. As nice as it is for security to be able to drive around the lot in cold weather, this doesn’t cut it. We need people on foot, readily available and prepared to react. We also need another guard or two inside these stores – professionals who are singularly focused on the prevention of crimes against customers by fellow customers. If you want to pack your store with hundreds of people off the street, you’d better keep them safe.

How much would two or three extra security guards cost these multibillion-dollar retailers? It might not be cheap, but they can afford it. And you can rest assured that extra security would draw more customers, leading to more revenue to balance out these costs.

We guarantee the financial livelihood of these mega retailers, and it’s time they work harder to protect our children. No longer should women be forced to leave these stores with their children and a cart full of purchases in hand as they venture out into the parking lot, alone and unprotected. It might not fix the problem entirely, but it will surely help.

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 4:45 AM with the headline "Blake Shuart: Large retailers should beef up security."