Beech Grove Wal-Mart hires officers, Mayor address other crime issues
BEECH GROVE, Ind. (WISH) — The mayor assured his community tonight that he’s addressing the crime problems that have cast a negative light over the town recently.
Mayor Dennis Buckley was out of town earlier this month and some of the headline-stealing stories, like the Wal-Mart fight and police chase, happened while he was gone.
Now that he’s back and had a chance to analyze the problems, he and other agencies like the police, are ready to explain their solutions.
“Crime is everywhere, it’s all around us,” Mayor Buckley said.
Thursday night, in Beech Grove people packed city hall to find out what they’re leaders were going to do about it.
“I think a lot of people want to know what’s going to happen, what’s going to change,” said Lorin Osborn, who attended the meeting.
Speaking in front of a standing room only crowd, Mayor Buckley talked about the troubles in his town.
“Motel 6 does not want to be a good citizen,” he said.
The motel was the site of a standoff with police last week and officers are constantly making runs to the property. It’s why it was officially declared a public nuisance and is now subject to fines.
“What we want them to do is change their behavior but I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not,” he said.
Another big area of concern was the Beech Grove Wal-Mart where a fight caught on video went viral.
“Those people (from the fight) weren’t from here and they’re not like us,” he emphatically told the crowd.
The fight only brought to light how the store was a hotbed petty crime like theft. This year alone, Beech Grove Police said they’ve made nearly 400 runs to the store.
“(Wal-Mart) did nothing to help this community except for drain our resources and add to our crime statistics,” said Mayor Buckley.
He met with Wal-Mart officials today and learned changes are coming.
Panhandling in the parking lot will be banned. Off-duty police officers will now be in the store and Beech Grove Police won’t be called in for thefts under $50. Mayor Buckley said officers were getting called even if someone stole a $3 picture frame.
“I think the Wal-Mart has kind of drug a lot of people that aren’t necessarily great for our community in, so it’s great that he’s pressuring them to do something,” said Osborn. “The police have done a great job, as best as they can, you just can’t really help what they call you for.”
Mayor Buckley believes the publicity from the fight and crime stories that followed might have influenced Wal-Mart’s quick changes.
“The police approached them over a year ago to talk about these items and they weren’t very receptive to it, so there’s been a shift change in how they feel about their relationship here,” he said.
Mayor Buckley said another change Wal-Mart plans to do is a pilot program for first-time shoplifters. Rather than arresting them, they’ll go through a diversion program. He said all of the changes there will be enforced within the next week.