Edited surveillance footage shows a man robbing a Tempe Walgreens on July 27, 2016. Police believe the robber was Dalvin Hollins. Provided by Tempe Police Department
Letter: Pharmacies aren’t safe anymore
http://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/letters/2016/08/04/pharmacies-not-safe/88273614/
If you notice the level of the check out counter at this particular WALGREENS and how easy it is for this robber to jump on the counter and directly into the Rx dept. One has to wonder why some sort of customer friendly barriers are not being used to deter the robbers and protect the staff. Would appear that visual appearance is more important than the safety of the employees.
Pharmacists need protection too. As a registered pharmacist for the past 45 years, I am appalled at the state of the profession. Pharmacies are constantly the target of armed robberies and threats of violence. Whether it’s Walgreens, CVS, food stores or neighborhood pharmacies, the pharmacist and staff are exposed to the public and prime targets for drug addicts, abusers and thieves.
I am sorry a young man was killed last week by Tempe police, but if he had not tried robbing an unprotected pharmacy he would not have been in that position. The pharmacist and the staff deserve to be protected and to go home to their families at night.
Race and color don’t matter: safety does. Drugs are too expensive already, armed guards in every pharmacy will only exacerbate the costs. Just imagine the expense of enclosing every pharmacy in bulletproof glass and hiring security. The drug and insurance companies certainly won’t assist in covering the cost: you will.
Filed under: General Problems
Thinking about it, most all of the pharmacies I’ve been to would be easy to rob. I’m sure there is a 911 call button like in banks, but that doesn’t protect the staff well enough at all. There should be bullet proof glass with a locked entrance or exit into a consulting area.
One pharmacy I went to had all of the meds behind a wall. There was a bullet proof window that you could see them through, but it was a smaller more decorative size window rather than full size. In front of that were shelves with behind counter items and the meds to be picked up.It was set up in a way that it didn’t feel closed off or like there was a barrier. More pharmacies should be built with this in mind, though I’m not sure that you can retrofit current pharmacies.