East Cleveland shoppers are calling on city hall to take action after a series of retail store robberies and ATM smash and grab incidents over the past two months.
The latest store hit was the Family Dollar location at 12732 Euclid Ave. where crooks smashed a vehicle through a front window.
East Cleveland council member Barbara Thomas told newsnet5.com robbers and burglars are targeting ATM machines, and they are hitting stores along the Euclid Avenue corridor especially hard.
"They're hitting us like 1,2,3," said Thomas. "Hey merchants, stand-up and begin to fight back. You can't keep sitting there."
Thomas explained some stores are reducing hours in response to the burglaries and robberies, making it tougher on walk-up shoppers, who can't afford a car, and rely on the stores for critical groceries and household items.
Shoppers like Terry McCabe are worried about personal safety and believe all East Cleveland retailers should post full-time security guards. McCabe said shrinking store hours makes it tougher on working households.
"They close early, they close at 9:45 and it's hard for shoppers like me to get off work and come here and get something," said McCabe. "It's all because of the robberies and stuff that's going on."
Thomas said she is in the process of contacting major retailers like Family Dollar and Walgreens in an effort to create a security association. The association would allow stores to pool resources in an effort to facilitate additional in-store security guards.
"Yes I will ask the merchants to come together and let's see what we can do to fight the crime," said Thomas. "Come on, join me."
Meanwhile Family Dollar issued the following statement in response to our story:
"Please know that the safety and security of our customers and associates is our first priority. Family Dollar has proudly operated stores in Northeast Ohio for many years.
When violence in the communities and neighborhoods we serve occurs, it affects everyone- including our stores.
Though we hope to never have to use them, we do have policies and rigorous trainings in place to best respond to store safety and security incidents and are committed to continually improving them to address potential threats to our stores.
We strive to create a safe work and shopping environment by tailoring our store operations and security for each store. We are continually enhancing the on-premise security and surveillance systems in all our stores, as well as our employee training.
To ensure the integrity of our security systems and procedures, we do not release specific details about these measures."
