Will grocer’s security upgrades be the start of revitalization in Tacoma’s South End?
It’s been a combination of improvements that is now starting to make a difference.
That’s according to Rebecca Leeper of Fred Meyer, who works as asset protection manager at the store’s 72nd Street and Pacific Avenue location.
The most dramatic change, a LiveView security tower, is portable, runs on solar and offers flashing blue lights and cameras to make itself conspicuous as the new guard on the block in the Fred Meyer parking lot. There also are new security cameras in the store.
On a sunny day before Thanksgiving, the tower sat parked in the lot, basically blending in except for its large solar panel.
“What we’re hoping with that is that it’s going to continue to decrease incidents in the parking lot like disorderly conduct, vehicle prowls, break-ins, drug activity,” Leeper told The News Tribune in a recent interview in one of the store’s back offices.
“We have had so many documented incidents that happen outside the store,” she said.
After dark and overnight is when it becomes more noticeable and can make a real difference, she said.
“What it does for us is it’s hooked up to our alarm system, and it notifies if it sees the motion, like there’s an alert that goes through so like when I’m at home sleeping, and then it makes audible alarms, you’re trespassing, please step away or get off, you’re on private property,” Leeper said.
It keeps giving the notifications and eventually alerts the police department if the person remains on site.
Similar technology is used by other retailers such a Walmart, which calls its version “Lot Cop.”
It’s not only portable, it comes with an app Leeper has on her phone, so she can always have a view of the lot no matter where she is.
Leeper admits she finds herself looking at the Fred Meyer security tower app “all the time.”
“I wouldn’t call it an addiction,” said Paul Chromey, a Safe Streets volunteer and lifelong Tacoma resident who’s worked with Leeper on security issues. “That’s called dedication.”
The camera tower has been in place for the past few months. Leeper says she doesn’t need to run the data to say that it’s already had an effect. She worked at the store for a few years, left and has been back working full time since February 2015.
“For me being here for years, I can tell there’s already been enough impact where I’m not constantly out there,” she said, motioning to the parking lot.
She adds it has made a huge difference in reducing shoplifting.
The store also has added more security staffing, including a police officer, on site through the day and through closing.
“It’s so much better than it used to be just in this area,” she said. “... the people from the community can come here, and they know there’s an officer here, and they can actually talk to the police.”
Neighborhood revitalization?
Chromey credits Fred Meyer for its dedication to the neighborhood and working with Safe Streets.
Chromey met Leeper at the store a few years ago. They both live near the store. From their first introductions, the communication started.
“When you have people that are passionate and care about stuff, that makes all the difference,” Leeper said. “So I knew that he cared, and I knew he was passionate and I think he got the same for me. And then it’s just a wanting to make stuff better. I mean, who else do you have but other people?”
“And,” she added, “building a relationship with the police department.”
She recalled when officers were first starting to be assigned to the store, one of them noticed a nearby abandoned house. It was taken care of within a month, according to Leeper.
“It was a house on a busy road,” she said. “So people that are coming into Tacoma or going to Pacific Avenue from other places, you know, that’s not the kind of thing that we want to project as that’s what our city is, because it’s not. It’s a beautiful city.”
Leeper, whose job is safeguarding the goods and merchandise inside Fred Meyer, comes off equally protective when she talks about her regular customers.
“We do have people around here that are low income, and we have regulars, families from around here, there’s a retirement home,” she said. “They come over here every day and they sit on the bench and they get their coffee. For some people, this is their main place to come.”
That reminded Chromey of an elderly woman he knows as a regular customer who used to take the bus to the store. She used to carry a cane but stopped, he said.
“I couldn’t figure out why she didn’t have her cane with her. But she was using it for protection years ago. Just in case,” he said.
Chromey said he’s not ready yet to declare the area in full comeback mode.
“I don’t want to get my hopes up,” he said. “But I hope so. We have these ebbs and flows all the time.”
Chromey wants to see more progress in bringing back more overlooked areas in the neighborhood.
“I don’t know why all eyes aren’t on this area right now for the potential,” he said. “And, let’s face it, potential means more tax revenue.
“Why can’t this area be the next Proctor?”
This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 1:00 PM.
