In the past year, the catalytic converter from one of Safeway's employee's car was stolen TWICE in the parking lot of our job. In addition, we have had a shooting, a plethora of thefts, and security guard turnovers leaving what little security we have nonexistent at times. We are afraid to walk to our car at night, and the vandalism I referenced happened in broad daylight. Our store is known as "a crazy place to work," yet we still come to our jobs every day and work hard. Unfortunately, the city around us is in decay, and there has been a noticeable decline in social structure. However, this city is still home to approximately 150,000 residents, consisting of families and children and hardworking citizens just trying to get by. These are your employees, and this is our life.

In addition to employee property, we have had multiple customers whose cars have been vandalized while they shop. Thieves have had enough time to steal the catalytic converter from cars while our customers shop! 30 min or less!! And, we have had customers verbally accosted at our store, in our parking lot. One such customer was then followed home and raped. This particular verbal attack was brought to the attention of our store management, but they were too busy to handle it properly, and, even if they had time, their hands were tied. We have been told that we cannot defend ourselves. We cannot stop thieves; we cannot ask people to leave when they are doing nothing except use drugs, vandalize cars, accost people and sleep in our parking lot. Enough is enough. When you work many hours a week and commit to your employer, you deserve to be able to expect the simplest forms of security. We're not asking for TOO much; is it too much to ask that employees get more consideration than the people that come to our parking lot to sleep or do drugs. It is not too much to request that we feel safe parking at our job site and walking to our store in our parking lot. It is not too much to stop thieves and criminals; even potentially, this is not too much. This is also NOT a judgment call; we are not judging people at all, don't stoop to that level; this is logic. LOGIC that employees deserve to get the respect that comes with common sense and safety. To assume that their car will be safe, and their person will be safe, and if someone tries to harm them, there will be systems put in place that MAY prevent it. You'll notice we are not asking for perfection or guarantees; just a simple "ok, we'll try," "we hear you," "you deserve to be as safe as possible where you work," AND "WE'LL TRY." We will get you the security you deserve. Your safety is important to us; your hard-earned time is valuable to us; we respect you and appreciate your commitment to our bottom line. We understand that it is you that makes our money for us." THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR!!

The line has been blurred here in Southeast Portland. We no longer feel as though we have the right to say NO to theft, NO to vandalism, NO to crime, and NO to the blatant disrespect of our person and property. At what point did caring for others mean that we needed to stop caring for ourselves. Enough is enough. We demand to feel safe at our job. This simple fact that the word "demand' needs to be used for safety is sad, it is pathetic, and it is downright criminal. You have become equal to the criminals around us that are stealing and attacking us; you are just as guilty.

We ask for more security in our stores, AND in our parking lots, we ask for the right to tow vehicles, we ask for police support when needed but more importantly, in-store support, we ask for accountability for the criminals, we ask for the right to say NO, NO you cannot sleep here, NO you cannot use drugs here, NO you cannot stay here after accosting our employees/customers that way, NO you cannot ask our customers for money, NO this is not a campground, NO this is not a drug den, AND NO we will NOT tolerate it anymore.

We understand some of this may be a sensitive matter, but please do not insult us by trying to say this is too sensitive to address. We are NOT judging anybody, nor are we giving any opinions as to what people need to do to get by. We are simply saying that we deserve to be also heard, we deserve to feel safe, we deserve to feel respected, and you CAN NOT have both. You need to choose. Your employees or the possibility of upsetting someone. You choose. Are we more important than the people in our parking lot? Let's not shy away from the real question; it has gotten to this point. Will you support your employees and help them be safe?? Or will you turn a blind eye because you're too afraid to take a stand?

Which one will it be? We feel as though we are saving a lot of time and unnecessary money lost due to vandalism and theft by asking the tough questions now. Actually, it is one question - are your employees and customers more vital to you than the people that steal from you, that loiter in your parking lot, that steal from us; are we more important to you? And it is easy to distinguish, it is. For example, if a person is in the parking lot for more than 10 minutes without buying something or AFTER buying something, they are loitering. Receipts are needed as proof. Also, if someone is stealing from you, they are not welcome; if someone is caught trying to break into cars, they cannot come back (this happens often). And don't worry about offending a customer because the people that are actually customers won't mind the added security; they won't mind being asked if that's their car – if they happen to be under it working on it……but I don't think that will happen very often. If someone is UNDER A CAR, they are most likely DOING SOMETHING WRONG!!! Let's get real, let us get honest, and let us participate.

HELP SAVE SAFEWAY EMPLOYEES; HELP PROTECT THEM FROM HARM; HELP PROTECT THEIR PERSONAL PROPERTY; HELP SAFEWAY!!

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