BANGOR, Maine — Security guards are on patrol at area Rite Aid pharmacies, while company officials work with police on ways to deter desperate people in search of drugs from robbing the stores, Rite Aid spokeswoman Ashley Flower said Thursday.
With 54 pharmacy robberies so far this year, Maine is averaging more than one a week, according to Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.
“It’s common for us to have individuals present — a security guard present — as we’re assessing the situation with the local authorities,” Flower said.
While the most recent Bangor pharmacy robbery happened at Walgreens on Dec. 4, four of the six pharmacy robberies in the Queen City this year have occurred at the Rite Aid pharmacy at the corner of Union and Fourteenth streets.
“We’re here just making a presence,” Seaboard Securities guard Jerry Lavertu, of Hampden, said while standing outside the Rite Aid.
Lavertu, a retired U.S. Army sergeant who served for 21 years, said other security guards are working a revolving schedule with the other area Rite Aid pharmacies in Bangor, Brewer, Hampden and Bucksport.
The goal is to “let them know somebody is here,” he said, referring to potential robbers.
Hampden resident Susan Cusson, who recently broke her arm in two places and had it in a sling on Thursday, said she is extremely happy with the additional security.
“I think they should have security because there is a lot of druggies out there and it would make me feel safer,” she said. “It’s scary to go into a pharmacy.”
Cusson said, in her opinion, Maine doctors over prescribe painkillers and with all the pharmacy robberies in the state, customers like her are ”afraid of walking out into the parking lot” with prescriptions in hand.
McKinney said pharmacy operators are taking steps to prevent robberies, including hiring security guards.
“All available tools and measures are being used in deterring individuals from going into pharmacies” to steal drugs, he said.
The drug addicts who turn to robbery are desperate and typically do so as a last resort, the MDEA director said.
“Either they cannot obtain their drugs because their supplier is out or they can’t come up with [the money to pay for them],” McKinney said.
They have a “different mindset” and are not thinking straight, which is one reason why so many are caught, he said. All pharmacies in Maine have video surveillance cameras, and some pharmacy operators use other techniques, including guards.
“A person driven by addiction is not going to be thinking about this,” McKinney said. “They are driven to get that drug, and that pharmacy has the drugs.”
Of the state’s 54 pharmacy robberies this year, 42 have ended with arrests, the MDEA director said. He said that is because pharmacy operators and law enforcement work together.
“It’s almost 78 percent. It’s a very high number,” McKinney said of the arrest rate. “Clearing of crimes is always a partnership. It’s never one single entity that solves a crime. It’s a partnership.”
Hiring of security guards is just one “example of a tactic we use,” Flower said of Rite Aid, which
has more than 60 locations in Maine.
“It’s a normal course of action for us given the situation as we are working to assess what is happening in Bangor,” she said.
Dumb-Dumb-Dumb, move..
The rent a cop has the potential to turn the situation into one of violence.
It will not deter the junkies, but now makes it clear to them they need to really be armed and dangerous.
The solution get out of the pharmacy business.. If your a pharmacy worker make sure Rite-Aid or what ever pharmacy your working at is going to cover your medical needs. And then start packing a pcs.
_________ And If You Pull It Do Not Hesitate For Even One Second__________
Don’t pull it out to use as a scare tactic, when you pull a gun out the intent is to use it. That will do more in deterrents then a rent a cop will ever do.
The solution is to get out of the pharmacy business? You do realize that Rite Aid, Walgreens, CVS, etc only survive because of the pharmacy right?
Yeah, along with this ,that and the other. Pharmacy’s should be behind much more secure locations, have we mention the public’s risk as well.
No, the drug addicts and thieves should “be behind much more secure locations”! They are certainly not going to run us all out of town. They need to be taken down a few notches and locked up for a very long time. 23 and 1 for about a year.
Yeah, wishful thinking. Ain’t happening. And wait until they legalize the dope. The order will be shoot on site.
_
Without the pharmacy those stores go under period.
I hear you. But perhaps separated and certainly behind bullet proof glass and bars.
and a trained dog!!!!
Americans filled more than four billion prescriptions in 2011. In 2003,
we consumed more than 25 million pills an hour, every hour, for a
staggering total of 600 million pills a day. taken from an article in the BDN today….
Yep great idea arm all the clerks in Rite Aid and then when they pop off a round and hit an innocent customer I suppose you will be there to pay the lawsuit judgement.
It’s a risk I realize. This is why I propose separating the pharmacy from the store and behind greater protection.
Collateral damage my friend. Welcome to the ‘tea-party’ Republican utopia.
Cops train constantly with their weapon and don’t always hit what they aim at. How in the world would you expect a 18 year old clerk to use a weapon properly. What you call collateral damage a plaintiffs attorney will call a seven figure settlement. I agree with having the pharmacy behind better protection part, but not the guns for the reason I said.
Perhaps my alternative stirs the pot.
constantly is a bit of an over statement. pretty sure most departments require 70% hit percentage annually or bi annually and I know a lot of guys the only time they shoot is during re-quals.
Sure he’d make me feel safe. LOL!!!!
Mall Cop.
It will probably work. Most criminals / junkies, although desperate, are fairly stupid and cowardly. They’ll avoid a difficult robbery just as much as a petty car thief will avoid a car with the “club” on the steering wheel
Anyone look at the income statement or balance sheet of Rite Aid (RAD) recently? I hope the rent-a-cops accept gum and cough drops for compensation. Rite Aid will not be around long.
I hope you’re wrong, I love Rite Aid. Hate Walgreens, and what other choice besides a grocery store or Wal Mart? As for the security guards, I am glad they are there. Thanks Rite Aid!
I only posted for Rite Aid to do that 2 months ago and about 8 robberies ago.
We will see what happens in another 2 months and 8 robberies. I am just thinking Bangor, robbers not bright and really hiring this line of security, I mean what resources do they have to stop a robbery in progress?
This is just going to move the robberies from the pharmacies to the parking lot. Junkies are going to wait for someone who looks like they are in pain and mug them when they’re getting into their car.
What do these folks carry for weapons? Coke and mentos probably…..
Exactly, and even the ones that are armed are want-a-be cops who couldn’t make the grade and they are just aching to prove something.
Not to mention, what are you really getting at $7.25 an hr.
That and the possibility they are as crooked as the junkies.
Did you ever think they do this because they like the idea of helping people? Presence is a very good deterrent. If I could afford to do that, I probably would. I wouldn’t even mind volunteering for that. You don’t necessarily need a weapon to be effective.
I hear you. However, we are dealing with ‘junkies’, who would rob and kill their own mother.
This ain’t Joe Schmuck patrolling gated community.
Just intimaditing
They are issued a whistle and a pencil and notepad.
After they pass the probation period.
i know..why not put an armed UC in there and take these guys down??
Toy gun and plastic handcuffs. If they don’t have any, they arm themselves with bags of candy and all the rewards cards they can find.
I’ve heard good things about the Rite Rewards Program…..
Me too, but I am not a member of the program however.
Based on the photo, I’d say it’s a red Swingline stapler.
Sad. But I’m glad they’re doing it. I feel for anyone who works in a pharmacy these days.
Last time I saw security guards outside a convenience store was in Mexico…..sad
…and armed with an M-16. And for a saw buck in the hand would sell their daughter into prostitution.
Wait a second!!! That is NOT the security guy that was working there! That Rite Aid had the sharp looking uniformed officers that appeared more like police officers.That company that has the Hummers? I think it’s called KE Security? I would not be the slightest bit fearful of that guy that is in this picture. I live in this neighborhood so I definitely noticed and appreciated the increase in security but clearly I missed this transition from professional security to sketchy mall cop wannabe’s. That’s unfortunate. When’s the next pharmacy robbery gonna go down?
Stay tune their robbing one as we speak. And please refrain from flirting with the security personal while in the store.
Is that bubbles from trailer park boys ?
A security guard will only make people feel safer. It wont make the pharmacy safer. If you visited banks south of Maine you would see a higher level of security. They dont have open teller stations. The tellers have bullet resistant glass. You want some thing from the teller? You talk to the window and your money is handed through a slot.
Want to make it harder for robbers to steal drugs? Stop making the pharmacists so vulnerable.
You got that right..Pharmacies are such an easy target, especially if its an out of towner..say that has a litle sense..enough to wear a fullbeard strap on with moustache
Having lived in Eastern Ma for over 30 years, I’ve never seen a closed in pharmacist (we rarely have a robbery there) and only the occasional closed in bank teller. Some of the rougher area convenience store clerks do sit in a bunker style booth though….
Are we the only state in the U.S. that needs a security officer at a pharmacy?
2 customers and 2 clerks were executed at a pharmacy in new york a few months ago. even after the clerks complied with the gunman’s orders and gave him all the drugs he wanted.
only the criminal was armed.
Give them placebos …….something that will make them violently ill to go along with the GPS tracking .:)
Most are probably as good as the PharmD at pill identification. They’d have to be closely matched placebos.
Do you really think they have time to open the pill bottle and examine the pills before fleeing from the store? They are demanding drugs/pills and getting a bottle of pills…so I doubt they’d realize it until after they’d committed the crime.
I very much doubt that putting a rent-a-cop at the door is going to do much. Does it stop all the stealing going on up at the Mall? Nope, and those folks have a serious complex up there and think they are REAL cops…I would doubt someone desperate enough to steal drugs is going to be too worried by a Rent a Cop without a gun.
Hampden resident Susan Cusson, who recently broke her arm in two
places and had it in a sling on Thursday, said she is extremely happy
with the additional security.
“I think they should have security because there is a lot of druggies
out there and it would make me feel safer,” she said. “It’s scary to go
into a pharmacy.”
what does breaking your arm in two places have to do with security guards? its like saying i have a busted nut and I feel safer when Rent-A-Cop is watching me
LOL I thought the same thing, I wonder why they threw that little tidbit in…. is that supposed to make the robber feel sorry for he; if she is in the pharmacy when it”s getting robbed… geesh!!!
They likely threw it in implying she is on pain pills. Usually when you break something the ER gives you a script for pain.
I would guess she just happened to be in the store at the time of the interview.
I thought the same thing while I was reading it!!
I think this is just a recipe for disaster. While a security guard may deter other types of crime, it is not going to stop an addict who is desperate enough to consider robbing a pharmacy. If an addict who is robbing the pharmacy (and is armed) is confronted by an overzealous security guard, the outcome could be disastrous. Not just for the security guard but also for innocent bystanders. This situation requires an all or nothing approach. Either do it right and hire armed security, or do nothing at all. An armed, professional security agent (such as an off-duty cop) would be a much better alternative. I know that security guards are joked about quit a bit, but this is no joking matter. It will only be a matter of time before one of these guys or gals is shot at by someone attempting to rob the pharmacy. Rite Aid has two plausible options to stop these robberies, either secure your pharmacist and the drugs with partitions, metal security grates, bullet resistant glass, etc or hire armed guards. Anything short of these two solutions is going to either result in the same amount of robberies, or worse, someone getting shot or killed.
Very nicely said ! There trying to do something unfortunately they are trying to do it on the cheap. (what else is new uh)
And we can’t blame all this addiction on the Doctors either, they are only a small percentage of the problem. People are selling their med’s to make ends meet.
And that’s how these young people are getting so hook. And I could not agree more that it’s only matter of time before somebody gets seriously injured in one of these robberies.
But, having said that, ‘junkies’ are on a communication pipe line, meaning the word spreads fast in their click. And you and some others may find my comments over the top or too much realism to stomach but never the less a few of these ‘junkies’ need to go out in body bags. Before we see any great reductions in these robbery’s.
And once again having said that, watch what happens when and if the day comes to marijuana legalization, a whole new different group of druggies besides the pill poppers and the heroin junkies will be robbing Peter, Paul & Mary for the weed because it will be there to rob.
Lock and Load baby.. Cause the s–t is about to hit the fan.
I agree with the first part of your comment, but putting them behind BP glass could invite an armed and truly desperate thief to grab a nearby hostage and demand the door be opened anyway. Just a few short years ago pill robberies were unheard of. Sadly, we now have to start thinking of all possibilities.
Damn good observation ! (I didn’t want to say that) But oh yeah.
armed or unarmed security will have one difference. 1 guy or 2 guys shooting. I am all for self defense but if we are worried about having by-standards harmed in a CQC shootout this probably isn’t the solution.
However, this article doesn’t say either way if he is armed or not. I am pretty sure seaboard does employe armed guards.
A drug store could have a double glass entrance like a bank in Sicily. If it works it would save on hiring extra help.
The humble Farmer
How about double entry doors like when stores have air dams. The cubicle is made of bullet proof glass with remote locks. After the druggie leaves the pharmacist with his booty, he enters the first set of exit doors, then they hit the remote lock and you have the fool in a locked and sealed container until his law enforcement escort arrives.
That’s a good second choice. As for me, I have learned that the restiveness rate for criminals receiving and having the death penalty carried out is zero percent. But I’m thinking my first choice will never pass muster in today’s bleeding heart society.
While I like the idea, what happens if they time it so someone is walking into this ‘cubicle of glass’ and then decide to either take a hostage or just walk away since nobody is going to lock it and put an innocent person in harms way?
Its not ideal, but they way they are handling it is probably the safest for the general public. Give the junkie what they want, let them leave, and allow the police to do what they are trained to do. Sometimes they get away with it for a few days or weeks, but people talk and soon enough they are caught. Adding a security guard might deter the biggest cowards, but most people know rent-a-cops don’t carry guns and will not escalate a situation to put innocent people in harms way.
If there is anyone in the entrance except the dirt bag, you do not lock it.
Every other state has BP glass. If pharmacies arent going to try and protect themselves, then they should be left on their own. A lot of good that security guard is going to do outside…
When the Pharmacy crew is behind 3 inch glass…who protects the other 10 or so people that work there? What keeps a bad guy from grabbing a high school kid as a hostage? Guards will just escalate the situation to the point where unarmed thieves will be sure to bring a gun.
While I totally understand the logic behind this, given Maine’s increasing drug problem, I recently went into the Bangor Rite-Aid and was totally creeped out by this “rent-a-cop.” He was perched on a stool and leering at everyone (mostly females). Didn’t make me feel safer and I don’t know if he was preventing much crime, but I won’t be going back to that store (it made me THAT uncomfortable).
I wonder how much this will add to the cost of the prescriptions and items they sell in the store?
What exactly does the statement–“we’re here just making a presence” mean?–As stated by Mr. Lavertu?
may end up causing more trouble
Where are the police? Don’t we pay them to protect our property?
You don’t see Dunkin Donuts getting robbed every week do you?
thats ignorant. Maybe if D&D had thousands of dollars worth of highly addictive pain killers they would. I go to D&D almost every morning on Broadway before work I almost never see police there.
are you saying that coffee and boston cream doughnuts aren’t addictive?
Wow, anxious there T.B……stress and caffeine aren’t good for you….and the Main St. DD’s is more convenient to the PD…..
Hillarious… I see you hit the nerve of one poster, good comment. I hang out at D&D just for that reason, I feel safe with the cops there..
shhhh….don’t give these guys another target…..
What do you propose we do, stick police officers in stores so 99% of the time they just sit/stand in a corner and watch people pick up their prescriptions? They have a pretty good track record of catching these criminals after the fact. Its a much safer route to just give the criminals what they want and allow the police to find them. Usually they catch up to them rather quickly because I’d say they pretty much know who these types are and where they hang out.
give those robbing buggers, white ex-lax”s , and have those sniffing dogs find their trail, easy peazie….
no we don’t pay them to protect our property. We pay them to investigate crimes committed on or against our property and persons. Police are not security or body guards. They are a force of reactive responders not proactive defenders (though some community policing does involve pro-activity).
police are not proactive, they are reactive.
they are only there after the crime has taken place.
plus, they’re usually too busy handing out traffic tickets.
Where would that end? Nursing homes, malls, schools…..
“Either they cannot obtain their drugs because their supplier is out
or they can’t come up with [the money to pay for them],” McKinney said.
They have a “different mindset” and are not thinking straight, which is one reason why so many are caught, he said.
McKinney needs to tell people the real story and stop being so “polite”. Addicts will stop at nothing to satisfy their craving. They will steal from family, their best friends, anyone, any time, without any fear of consequences. They will steal pain meds from a dying parent. They will steal money and belongings from their children. Addicts have no honor, no respect, no morals and no conscience. They cease to be the person you once may have known. Nothing matters to them except the acquisition of their drug.
Once opioid receptors are active, there’s no going back. Ever. A fortunate few do get their addiction under control through treatment, but there is no ultimate cure. If we could get 1/2 the addicts off the streets, the crime rate would plummet. Perhaps the money saved from all the court costs alone could be used for better treatments for addiction.
I personally know one young man, an admitted addict, that sought treatment and help on several occasions only to be told “you don’t qualify”. Now he is sitting in jail looking at some very serious time.
The drug problem will never go away until the public realizes just how serious this is, and acts to make addiction treatment more available and mandatory. Most importantly, drug dealers, suppliers, manufacturers, any and all responsible for providing illegal drugs of any kind need to be dealt with harshly and without mercy.
But there is a secondary problem/issue here. Doctors hand out opiates like candy. This summer my wife dislocated her finger. We went to the hospital and the first thing they asked once they sat my wife down was if she wanted pain killers. We said she took 2 Advil after it happened as her finger started to swell and we knew setting it back into place was going to be painful. The doctor told us he could prescribe her some ‘real’ pain meds, which we told him no thanks, we will stick with advil or tylenol as it worked just fine. After he set her finger, he and the nurses asked multiple times if we were sure we didn’t want something stronger than the over the counter stuff, which we denied each time. It seems they are way too eager to push the pain meds.
We are both aware of the potential for addiction to opiates like that so we just stay away, but for those who are not, you are right, once you are addicted, its over and they will do anything they can to feed that addiction. While I hate to pass blame, and I do put most of this onto the individual and I will not deviate from that, doctors do not help the situation in any way by so easily and willingly giving out prescriptions for pain meds for things that could probably be controlled with over the counter pain killers.
Amen……could n”t have said it better myself….
fix ur caption BDN its Seaboard Security… geez.
how much good will unarmed rent-a-cops do?
21 years in the Army might make him somewhat qualified right? I’ll bet those working inside like him just fine.
Talk about barney Fife….OMG..
21 years in the Army retiring as a Sergeant might make him a little more qualified than good old Barney. Have a little respect for his service to our country and to someone who might save you, me, or a loved one.
He still looks like a Barney Fife….He could of been a cook in the Army.. He will fork you to death….
The next time a plane load of soldiers lands at BIA, perhaps you could join the Troop Greeters and personally insult the guys that you don’t find attractive enough to fight for our country.
Loosen up, I was in the Navy, so you are barking up the wrong tree..Did you do time in the service?
Thank you for your service. My brother was in the Nuclear Navy and now works at Seabrook Nuclear Station. My draft number was 351 so no I didn’t volunteer to go to Vietnam. That’s why I appreciate his and your service. My uncle was at Wheeler field when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and another uncle stormed Normandy . Sorry, but I have no stomach for crapping on military vets…even if they were a cook.Their service allowed me and others to sleep in our comfy college beds. just sayin. On top of that-the guy has a family who will read the posts. Give him a break….
I hear you, each service bust each others balls, just the way it is, but in the thick of it we have each others backs….I work with former Marinies, believe me we talk smack about each others service anytime we can..
I too thank your family for their service, My Dad was in the Navy as were 3 of my cousins….I actually still work for DOD…..I will until I retire…..
I still say hand them bottles of poison shaped like pills and let them take care of the problem for us. It’s ridiculous and out of control.
It’s ridiculous, but licensing pharmacists to kill isn’t?
make epicac in pill form, hand those out when robberies happen…
Its a rent-a-cop….they need an armed guard with an assault rifle who knows how to use it, not some guy who looks like he’s never seen a gun before.
“They are driven to get that drug, and that pharmacy has the drugs.”
As Willie Sutton probably didn’t actually say, “I rob banks because that’s where they keep the money.”