Why Do Criminals Love This Walmart So Much?

The Walmart on State Route 436 in Casselberry, Florida is very popular. Unfortunately, it’s popular with a demographic that retailers don’t want to attract: criminals. Specifically, shoplifters. Some very talented shoplifters, like the man who allegedly removed 18 televisions from the store while dressed as a woman.

When contacted by a reporter from local station WFTV, a Walmart spokesperson countered that the huge number of arrests reflects well on the store, not poorly. Why is that? It means that the store’s efforts to “thwart crime” are effective.

Still, the brazen criminals of Casselberry have created some dangerous situations for local cops. Last week, two officers tried to stop an alleged shoplifter who was trying to leave in his truck. The suspect refused to stop, even when one of the cops was hanging on to the truck’s window.

The mega-retailer is doing some things differently: anyone caught shoplifting gets a trip to jail instead of a court date. There are probably other measures that the store has taken that they don’t want members of the public to know about.

In the last month, local police have made 37 arrests at the store in question in Casselberry. Police say that they’ve made 202 arrests so far in 2014. Since they’re averaging more than one arrest per day and the article we got those statistics from was published yesterday, those stats must be up to at least 38 and 203 by now.

Police: Casselberry Walmart a target for criminals [WFTV]

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