The Maplewood Walmart gets a shout-out in a Fox 2 post about how area Walmarts generate more police calls than any other area store.
Fox reports that according to records, the Maplewood Walmart has more than five times the police calls as any other Maplewood business — 1,472 calls in a year. Sam’s Club was a distant second with 271; Lowe’s had 245.
Fox reported that a suspect at the Maplewood Walmart used a box cutter against officers. Another Maplewood officer was almost run over when two shoplifters sped off. Maplewood Police are asking for your help to identify the suspects. (picture at the bottom of this story)
“We have had calls up there with a lot of drug use, you know, people that are intoxicated, car accidents where people have left the scene of the car accident,” Maplewood Police Chief Steven Kruse told Fox. “When you’ve got that many people there, that’s just the way it’s going to be.”
Kruse said he believes the large number of shoppers is the reason for so many police calls. He said Walmart works with the police department to deter crime.
“We want to give them the best police service we can, and I know that they appreciate that, and that’s why they work so closely with us,” Kruse told Fox. “When they’re shopping at Walmart, they shop at other places. They go to eat at restaurants.”
Police calls to other area Walmarts:
- Walmart South County – 3270 Telegraph – 2052 calls
- Target South County – 4250 Rusty Lane – 443 calls
- Walmart Fenton – 653 Gravois Bluffs – 1672 calls
Before the Walmart in Shrewsbury even opened. The new so called Team members were stealing.. no names but got the info from a Law enforcerment offical.. it’s just sad.. I don’t shop Walmart, never will.. it’s a magnet for the worst of offenders..
Wally is on the skid row of American retailing…. Their stores attract the criminal element unbounded by race, gender, religious or sexual orientation. I think each store needs its own police substation to counter this threat.
I think that we made a pact with the devil when we brought in Wal Mart. Not only do they have problems with customers stealing, there is a great deal of employee theft there also. I was never behind them moving in.
Trying times for some folks.
Wally is a magnet for crime – Sam Walton never envisioned this back in the day….
Not a surprise with the kind of people that shop there
What do you mean?
I think he’s trying to disparage minority groups, without calling them by name. But what are we to think of the S. County and Fenton Wal Marts having a larger number of calls to the police? Are there many minorities living there?
I think the article stated that it was in relation to the amount of businesses in the municipality. There may be more calls to the south county and Fenton Wal Marts, but how many other businesses are in those municipalities as compared to Maplewood. It is a small community as compared to Fenton and South County.
Not to beat a dead horse here, but assuming that Daniel is directing his comment at minority groups is a pretty grand accusation. Being a regular at the Maplewood Walmart, I too can attest that many of the customers — from all races, classes, and genders — are rude, inconsiderate, and obnoxious. It seems to me that something about Walmart (especially those in the St. Louis region) bring out the worst in people.